SPANISH PRIMERA LIGA NEWS ROUND-UP:REAL MADRID defender Pepe has been banned for 10 matches following his red card and extraordinary loss of control against Getafe in this week's 3-2 Primera Liga win at the Bernabeu.
The Portuguese international will miss Real’s remaining six games of the season, including next week’s home match against leaders Barcelona, after the ruling by the disciplinary committee of the Spanish soccer federation (RFEF).
With the scores level at 2-2 and three minutes left in Tuesday’s clash, Pepe pushed Getafe’s Francisco Casquero and the referee awarded a penalty.
He then kicked Casquero on the ground and a second swipe saw him rake his studs over the midfielder’s back. In the ensuing melee he struck another Getafe player, Juan Albin, in the face.
He was shown a straight red card, having already picked up a yellow earlier in the match, and said, “You are all sons of whores”, to the fourth official as he left the pitch.
He also broke the rules by coming back on to celebrate Gonzalo Higuain’s winner with his team-mates.
Alfredo Florez, RFEF disciplinary committee president, said on Spanish radio Pepe had been banned for one game for the red card, eight games for aggression towards opponents and one more match for his offensive remarks.
Pepe apologised for his actions and said he was not a violent player, but his behaviour has been widely condemned.
Getafe president Angel Torres was quoted yesterday as saying Real should tear up the player’s contract.
"Pepe's attitude was unforgiveable," he said in Marca. "The behaviour we witnessed on Tuesday is bound to encourage violence among children."
Real said on their website (www.realmadrid.com) the committee had also decided to rescind a yellow card shown to forward Higuain for diving in the penalty area, meaning the Argentine can play in tomorrow’s match at third-placed Sevilla.
Meanwhile, the combined debt of the 20 clubs in the Primera Liga swelled by more than €660 million to at least €3.5 billion in the year through June 2008, according to a study by a Barcelona-based accounting professor.
Real Madrid, Barcelona and their rivals had already racked up debts totalling around €2.8 billion by June 2007 and slipped at least €664 million further into the red in the 12 months after that, said Jose Maria Gay, author of the study and a professor at the University of Barcelona.
“We are faced with a situation where the economic life-blood of the clubs is seeping away,” Gay said.
“Far from seeing signs of salvation, they are sinking ever further into the mire of enormous debt.”
In an interview in January, Gay warned Spanish soccer faced financial collapse and urged the authorities to act to force clubs to stop living beyond their means.
Francisco Izco, president of Osasuna, said this week a financial disaster could engulf Spanish soccer unless action is taken to prevent profligate clubs slipping deeper into the red.
Gay based his latest analysis on the 2007/08 accounts of Real Madrid, Barcelona and most of their rivals but it does not include money owed to creditors by Real Valladolid, who have not made their accounts available since 2002/03, he said.
The study showed champions Real Madrid had the largest debt in 2007/08 with €563 million, followed by city rivals Atletico with €511 million and Valencia with €502 million. Barcelona were €438 million in the red.
