Mourinho Super Cup ban for eye poke lifted
Reuters - Tuesday 10 July 2012, 13:38
A two-match ban given to Real
Madrid coach Jose Mourinho for poking Barcelona assistant Tito
Vilanova in the eye has been lifted as part of a general
amnesty, the Spanish football federation (RFEF) said on Tuesday.
The decision, announced at the RFEF's general assembly in
Madrid, raises the prospect of a clash between the federation
and Barca, whose president Sandro Rosell said last month he
would not allow Mourinho's aggression to go unpunished.
The volatile Portuguese was sanctioned after attacking
Vilanova, who has since taken over as first-team coach from Pep
Guardiola, from behind during a Super Cup match last season.
The ban, applicable only in the Super Cup, was rescinded by
RFEF president Angel Maria Villar, who traditionally exonerates
some players and coaches after sealing re-election. He was voted
in unopposed for a seventh four-year term in February.
"Match bans up to four games and stadium bans up to two
games will not be enforced," the RFEF ruled, according to a note
distributed at the assembly.
The ruling meant Vilanova's one-match ban for reacting to
Mourinho's aggression was also lifted.
Both can take their place on the bench when La Liga
champions Real and King's Cup winners Barca meet next month in
the 2012 Super Cup, the two-legged curtain-raiser to the season.
Rosell suggested last month the club would challenge any
decision to exonerate Mourinho.
"We do not accept that an aggression towards our coach is
not punished," Rosell said.
"If this happens, we will speak to the appropriate party, we
will not let it go unpunished."