Marcelo, sanctioned with three games

Real Madrid’s Brazilian defender Marcelo Vieira was sanctioned this Friday with a three-game suspension by the sole Competition judge after his expulsion during the Cup round of 16 match against Elche at the Martínez Valero. Marcelo has been suspended for one match for his red card and two for saying “you’re very bad” to referee Figueroa Vázquez after being sent off.

The Competition judge of the Spanish Football Federation (FEF) has rejected the allegations presented by Real Madrid and has imposed two punishment matches on Marcelo for “disrespect and disregard for the referees.” According to Real Madrid, the referee of the Elche-Real Madrid match committed “a manifest material error” by expelling Marcelo with a direct red card, but the Competition judge recalls that “it will not be possible to revoke a referee’s decision by invoking a discrepancy in the interpretation of the Rules of the Game, whose ‘sole, exclusive and definitive’ competence corresponds precisely to the referee».

Regarding the expression that Marcelo made to Figueroa Vázquez after his expulsion, the Competition judge considers that “this phrase constitutes an infraction of disregard for the referee, typified in article 117 of the Disciplinary Code”, for which he imposes the corresponding sanction in its minimum degree, that is, a two-match ban and an additional fine of 700 euros for the club and 600 euros for the offender.

Real Madrid has ten days to appeal to the FEF Appeals Committee and try to reduce Marcelo’s sanction.