Vinicius apologises for hair-pull red card but could miss El Clasico

What the report says

Real Madrid forward Vinicius Jr has apologised on social media to teammates and supporters after being sent off in the club’s 1-0 La Liga win over Villarreal at the Santiago Bernabeu on Saturday, according to Al Jazeera’s report based on Reuters and The Associated Press. The dismissal came after a VAR review overturned his goal and showed him pulling Villarreal defender Nathan Saliba’s hair during the build-up.

The article says the Brazilian came on in the 52nd minute and was dismissed about 20 minutes later. Referee Isidro Diaz de Mera recorded in his match report that Vinicius protested the decision in an aggressive manner before being restrained by teammates. Villarreal’s Juan Foyth said he did not think the contact was meant to injure anyone, but accepted it was a red card.

The case now goes to the disciplinary committee, which could hand Vinicius a suspension of one to three matches under Spanish football rules for violent conduct without injury. That makes him a possible absence for Real Madrid’s upcoming league matches, including the Clasico against Barcelona in two weeks. The development matters because Vinicius is one of Real’s key attacking players and any ban would affect a major run of fixtures.