Football
Dermot Corrigan, Madrid correspondent 7y

Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos' appeal against dismissal rejected

Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos has been suspended for one game following his sending off in Sunday's 3-0 La Liga win at Deportivo La Coruna, ruling him out of this weekend's home clash with Valencia.

The 23rd dismissal of Ramos' club career came when he was first booked after pushing a hand into the face of Deportivo defender Fabian Schar during a dispute then shown a second yellow card in added time for leading with his arm in an aerial challenge with substitute Borja Valle.

Madrid appealed the second yellow shown by referee Jose Luis Gonzalez Gonzalez, but the Spanish federation's competition committee said the video evidence presented by the club's legal team had failed to establish that the official had made a mistake.

Ramos must therefore serve the standard one-game ban and has also been fined €600, while his club must pay €350.

Both now have the right to appeal the punishment through the federation's appeals committee.

The news follows Cristiano Ronaldo's five-match ban following his push on a referee -- upheld on appeal this week -- and Ramos, 32, suggested that jealousy of his side's recent success had led to refereeing decisions going against them.

Research compiled by ESPN FC has shown that, thanks to Madrid regularly appealing the decisions, Ramos' previous 22 red cards only merited a total suspension of 24 matches in total. Of these, Madrid have won 18, lost three and drawn three.

Ramos' absence against Valencia would mean Zidane will have only two available specialist centre-backs in Nacho Fernandez and Raphael Varane.

Understudy Jesus Vallejo, a senior squad member after returning from a loan spell at Eintracht Frankfurt last season, is currently sidelined with a thigh injury.

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