Real Madrid winger Vinicius Jr will miss the club's next four La Liga matches after being handed a four-game suspension for pulling Nathan Saliba's hair in Los Blancos' 1-0 win over Villarreal.
The league's Competition Committee handed down the decision on Wednesday, Oct. 14. The Brazilian will be out for Madrid's matches against Sevilla, FC Barcelona, Racing Santander and Valencia. The contest with Barcelona is a rivalry match known as El Clásico, which often decides which team has the inside track on winning the league.
There is a two-match suspension for a violent act coming in a situation in which the player was not disputing the ball and another two matches for protests directed toward the referee and other match officials.
The committee wrote
that the "claiming club has not supported with evidence anything that is able to disprove what is indicated in the referee report."
The decision could increase existing tension between Real Madrid and La Liga president Javier Tebas. Earlier this season, after Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho showed printed pictures of moments in a match when his team faced injustice from the referees, Tebas fired back on social media. That led Real Madrid to send a statement saying that Tebas is not fit to continue leading La Liga.
The suspension will mean that not only does Vini Jr miss the rivalry match against Barcelona, but also that he doesn't return to club soccer until after the international break. He remains eligible for UEFA Champions League matches. Real Madrid plays Roma on Oct. 14, RB Leipzig on Oct. 21 and AEK Athens on Nov. 4.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Vini Jr to miss Clasico after getting four-match suspension for hair pull
