Exemplary sanction for Vinícius: the Brazilian will miss the classic (and more matches)

BarcelonaReal Madrid's Brazilian forward Vinícius Júnior will have to serve a four-match suspension due to his straight red card in the last La Liga matchday against Villarreal. This means he will miss the El Clásico against Barça at the Camp Nou on Sunday, October 25th.

The Disciplinary Committee of the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) sanctioned the Brazilian this Wednesday for his expulsion on Saturday in the 73rd minute of the duel against Villarreal "for pulling the hair" of Nathan Saliba –as recorded in the match report, he did it "with the ball in play, without the ball being in dispute between them"– and for addressing the referee with an "aggressive attitude" after the red card, according to the statement by referee Isidro Díaz de Mera Escuderos.

With this sanction, the Madrid player will be sidelined for the next match, this Sunday against Sevilla, in the Clásico in Barcelona, and in the following championship matchdays against Racing in Santander on November 1st and against Valencia at Mestalla on the 7th. Real Madrid's legal department is already preparing an appeal.

The news arrived just as Madrid was arriving at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome to play the match they won 3 to 4. In the subsequent press conference, José Mourinho raised his voice complaining about the fact that the news of the sanction arrived at that very moment. "Do you think it is normal that two hours before the match a player knows he is given a 4-match suspension? Couldn't they do it now? Couldn't they do it tomorrow morning? Shameful things are being done now. As they say in Portugal, the cat is no longer hidden, the cat is now running free," he said. Mourinho also complained about the schedules that Madrid receives in a press conference where he fired shots.

Vinicius also spoke, stating that "everyone dares against Vini. They should protect the players who want to attack, and instead, they show me cards. I will work hard to return to my best level".

Why should Vinícius have been sanctioned with more than one match?

The drafting of the referee's report was particularly detrimental to the interests of the white team. The referee from La Mancha described the reason for the expulsion. The Referees' Committee manual considers that violent conduct occurs when “a player uses an elbow, a headbutt, a punch, a slap, grabs by the neck, pushes, kicks, bites, or pulls hair… an opponent or any other person without disputing the ball, using excessive force or brutality”. This already meant, at a minimum, two to three matches.

The RFEF Disciplinary Code is especially clear in these cases. Article 121 establishes that direct expulsions entail, as a general rule, a minimum of a one-match suspension, but raises the punishment to a minimum of two when the footballer has no possibility of disputing the ball. Furthermore, Article 130, which regulates violent conduct, provides for sanctions of two to three matches when the action occurs outside of play or without the possibility of disputing the ball.

The Brazilian's situation has also been complicated by his reaction following the expulsion. Díaz de Mera recorded that “with play stopped, Vinícius, after having been sent off, and while he was still on the pitch, continued to protest my decision by shouting, heading towards the area where I was with an aggressive attitude, to the point that he had to be restrained by some of his teammates, although I could not identify any specific expression". While this circumstance did not automatically imply an additional sanction, it did leave open the possibility that the Disciplinary Committee would also evaluate the footballer's subsequent behavior.