UEFA yet to decide over Real red cards
Reuters - Wednesday 24 November 2010, 14:54
BERNE - UEFA will complete a routine study
of match reports before deciding whether to take any action
following Spanish media reports that two Real Madrid players
deliberately provoked red cards in the Champions League.
"The UEFA disciplinary services are still looking at the
match reports so (there is) no decision on possible disciplinary
cases yet," UEFA said in a statement on Wednesday.
Sergio Ramos and Xabi Alonso were both dismissed late in
Tuesday's 4-0 win away to Ajax Amsterdam after picking up second
yellow cards for time-wasting.
They face automatic one-match suspensions in the final group
game against Auxerre, which is a dead match for Real with the
Spanish club already assured of first place in Group G and
qualification for the last 16.
The red cards mean they will have a clean slate for the next
round, assuming UEFA hand them only the mandatory one-match ban.
Spanish sports daily Marca summed up comment across the
country's media, saying: "Real Madrid's great match was
overshadowed by the self-inflicted sendings-off which had the
aim of not accumulating yellow cards before the last sixteen."
However, Ramos denied to the same newspaper that his red
card was deliberate.
"We tried to waste a bit of time as we were a man down and,
knowing the result, the referee could have avoided showing this
card," he said.
Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho did not want to discuss the
matter after the game.
"There is no use talking about the cards we received in the
final phase," Mourinho said.
He added that he was unhappy with the cards and said: "I
talked to a lot of players during the game - not just Ramos and
Alonso."
Two years ago, UEFA fined Olympique Lyon players Cris and
Juninho 15,000 euros and 10,000 euros
respectively for getting deliberately booked during a Champions
League match against Fiorentina.
UEFA's disciplinary panel decided that the pair had
committed deliberate fouls in order to serve a one-match
suspension during their team's meaningless final group stage
match against Bayern Munich.
No one from Real Madrid was available to comment on the
events of the Ajax game.
Former Real coach Vicente del Bosque, who is now in charge
of World Cup winners Spain, was quoted in Spanish media as
saying he thought the players had set out to get the cards.
"I think they used a good method to achieve what they had to
achieve thinking ahead to future games," Del Bosque said.
"I don't know if it is unsporting, but they have to think of
the future and I think they worked it well."