Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo facing ban of up to 12 games after ref confirms push in report

ByTom Adams

Updated 14/08/2017 at 08:01 GMT

Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo could be facing a ban of between four and 12 La Liga games after pushing a referee following his sending off in the first leg of the Spanish Supercup against Barcelona.

Ronaldo was booked for his celebrations following his goal after 80 minutes at Camp Nou as Madrid secured a 3-1 lead in the first leg of the Spanish season opener.

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The forward was then booked for diving to earn a red card and responded by shoving match official Ricardo de Burgos Bengoetxea, who included the incident in his report. The referee wrote:

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Once the red card was shown, the player pushed me slightly in a sign of disagreement.

Article 96 of the Spanish league’s rules and regulations says such behaviour should be punished with a ban of between four and 12 matches.

In April, Las Palmas player Marko Livaja committed a similar offence and received a five-game ban: one for the incident which prompted his sending off and an additional four for his push on the match official.

Ronaldo will serve a one-match ban in the Supercup second leg for his two yellow cards but if a similar additional ban is levied he will miss the first four matches of the Liga season against Deportivo La Coruna, Valencia, Levante and Real Sociedad.

If the Spanish officials take the hardest line possible, he could even miss the first third of the season. A 12-game ban would make him unavailable until the home game against Malaga on November 26.

Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane said the club would look into the possibility of appealing the red card.

"We played a great game but I am annoyed by Cristiano's sending off," Zidane told a news conference. "Perhaps it wasn't a penalty but the red card is a little harsh. We can't change it, but we'll try and make sure he plays on Wednesday."

Madrid captain Sergio Ramos also leapt to Ronaldo's defence.

"I think he was caught off balance and he didn't dive," said the defender. "We should try and appeal it. It should be analysed a little more."

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