Real Madrid midfielder Jude Bellingham has been suspended for two games for “disrespect” to the referee who sent him off at Osasuna, but avoided a longer ban for swearing at the official.
The 21-year-old is available to face Manchester City in Wednesday’s Champions League knockout play-off second leg but will miss LaLiga fixtures against Girona and Real Betis.
Bellingham was shown a straight red card in the first half of Real Madrid’s 1-1 draw with Osasuna on Saturday, the latest moment of controversy the club feel they have come up against in recent weeks.
Manager Carlo Ancelotti claimed after the game the referee had accused Bellingham of shouting “f*** you” over a decision he disagreed with, but that the 21-year-old had actually said “f*** off”.
The England midfielder faced a potential ban of up to 12 matches under the Spanish FA’s regulations, but will be suspended for only two matches as well as facing a potential fine after the governing body deemed Bellingham demonstrated a “disrespectful/inconsiderate” attitude towards the referee
Separately, the referee who sent off Bellingham has denounced what he calls a “false accusation” by local media that has led to him being temporarily sidelined by the Spanish FA.
Jose Luis Munuera will not referee a game for the federation until it concludes its analysis of a report by online newspaper El Espanol that alleged Munuera had business relations with “officials” in the Spanish league, it said on Tuesday.
The focus of the report is Talentus Sports Speakers, a company which Munuera works with offering motivational talks by sports figures.
Munuera responded to the media report with a statement saying that Talentus “has never invoiced any quantity from any sporting institution, whether it be a club, a federation or a company linked to sports.”
Earlier this month, Real Madrid wrote a formal letter to the Spanish FA after a 1-0 defeat by Espanyol, with the winner scored by Carlos Romero – who Real felt should have already been sent off for a late challenge on Kylian Mbappe.
The club was also left incensed by a VAR-awarded penalty given to arch-rivals Atletico Madrid which saw the Madrid derby end in a 1-1 draw a week later.
