The club started the game on Wednesday night with Dens Cheryshev in their starting 11 despite the fact the Russian was suspended for having picked up two bookings in the competition while playing for Villarreal last season, Xinhua reported.
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Denis Cheryshev of Real Madrid celebrates after scoring his team’s opening goal during the Copa del Rey Round of 32 First Leg match between Cadiz and Real Madrid at Ramon de Carranza stadium on December 2, 2015 in Cadiz, Spain.
Real manager Rafael Benitez substituted the player after only 40 seconds in the second half and said management wasn’t aware of the ban.
This is a huge blow to Real Madrid, which hasn’t won a title since the 2013-14 campaign when the club, heralded as one of the best in the world thanks to the likes of three-time Ballon d’Or victor Cristiano Ronaldo, won the Champions League and Copa del Rey trophies. However, Cheryshev was technically ineligible to play due to yellow card accumulation that dated back to the prior season, when he was on loan from Real Madrid and played for Spanish side Villareal.
However, previous incidents of a similar nature has seen Osasuna kicked out of the tournament in September this year, while Valencia were disqualified in 2001 for fielding too many non-EU players -under Rafa Benitez’s reign at the Mestalla.
But Madrid president Florentino Perez yesterday pledged to fight this case all the way, claiming the sanction was “not applicable” because Cheryshev had “not been personally notified” that he was suspended.
“Clearly, the club did not know anything, the federation had not said anything, neither had Villarreal, so we thought we could field him”, he said.
Cadiz, who play in the third tier of Spanish football, had no option but to appeal after the issue came to light.
However, the RFEF announced on Friday that they have been expelled from the competition with immediate effect.
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Cadiz have submitted a written complaint to the Spanish FA over the offence and the governing body have set Real Madrid a deadline to respond. Villarreal hadn’t informed us and for this nobody knew anything.
