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Real Madrid’s Ronaldo risks long ban for pushing ref in Barcelona clash

Cristiano Ronaldo could face a four to 12-game ban for pushing referee Ricardo de Burgos Bengoetxea after being shown a controversial red card in Real Madrid's 3-1 Spanish Super Cup, first leg win at Barcelona.

Published: 14 August 2017 15:16 CEST

Real Madrid's Ronaldo risks long ban for pushing ref in Barcelona clash

Ronaldo riled after ref gives him his marching orders. Photo: AFP

Madrid intend to appeal the second yellow card shown to the World Player of the Year for diving eight minutes from time when he went down inside the area under pressure from Samuel Umtiti, in a bid to free Ronaldo to play in Wednesday's second leg.

Ronaldo received his first yellow card for removing his shirt in celebration at firing Madrid into a 2-1 lead.

“We will see if we can do something so that he is available on Wednesday,” said Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane.

However, Ronaldo's reaction to the 10th red card of his career could see him miss the start of the La Liga season after the referee reported he had been pushed.

“Once shown the red card, said player (Ronaldo) pushed me lightly as a sign of his disapproval,” de Burgos Bengoetxea wrote in his referee's report.

According to the Spanish football federation's rules, such offences are met with a suspension of anything between four and 12 games, but previous cases have resulted in four-game bans.

Ronaldo could therefore miss Madrid's first four La Liga games against Deportivo la Coruna, Valencia, Levante and Real Sociedad.

Why has the expansion of Barcelona airport prompted mass protests?

People march during a demonstration against the expansion of the Barcelona-El Prat airport. Photo: Pau BARRENA / AFP

Several ecological and agricultural organisations, have demanded that the expansion be stopped due to the fact nearby wetlands and farms would have to be destroyed.

The demonstration took place on Calle Tarragona in the Catalan capital between Plaça d’Espanya and Plaça dels Països Catalans.

The protests still took place, even though last week, Spain suspended the €1.7 billion airport expansion project, citing differences with the Catalan government, after president Pere Aragonès said he wanted to avoid destroying La Ricarda lagoon, a natural reserve next to the airport.

Environmentalists decided not to call off the march, in case plans for the airport expansion still went ahead.

READ ALSO: Six things you need to know about Barcelona airport’s €1.7 billion planned expansion

Political representatives from ERC, En Comú Podem and the CUP also attended, as well as the leader of Más País, Íñigo Errejón; the Deputy Mayor for Ecology of the Barcelona City Council, Janet Sanz, and the Mayor of El Prat de Llobregat, Lluís Mijoler.

People from neighbourhoods across the city marched towards Calle Tarragona and could be seen holding placards that read “Nature yes, airport no and shouting slogans such as “More courgettes and fewer planes” and “Fighting for the climate, health, and life”.

One of the largest groups of people were those from El Prat de Llobregat, the municipality which is home to the airport, who were led by tractors.

People march during a demonstration against the expansion of Barcelona-El Prat airport. Photo by Pau BARRENA / AFP

In addition to protesting against the expansion of the El Prat airport, people were also demonstrating against the Winter Olympic Games in the Pyrenees and extensions to airports in Mallorca and Madrid.

A representative of Zeroport, Sara Mingorría said “We are here to defend not only La Ricarda, but the entire Delta”.

The philosopher Marina Garcés also argued that the expansion of the airport would mean “more borders, more mass tourism, more control and more precarious jobs.”

The leader of the commons in the Catalan parliament, Jéssica Albiach, who also attended the protest, asked the PSOE for “coherence”: “You cannot be passing a law against climate change and, at the same time, defend the interests of Aena [the airport operations company]”, she said.

She also urged the leader of the Generalitat, Pere Aragonès, to “definitely say no”.

If the airport expansion in Barcelona goes ahead, environmentalists say that CO2 emissions would rise by a minimum of 33 percent. These levels would surpass the limits set by the Catalan government’s climate targets.

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