 |
Real Madrid's David Beckham (C) screams at
referee Dauden Ibanez (L) after being expelled during a Spanish
League football match between Real Madrid and Valencia at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid. Valencia won
2-1. (AFP) |
David Beckham's red card near the end of Real
Madrid's 2-1 defeat by Valencia on Sunday was overturned by the Spanish Football
Federation (RFEF) on Tuesday.
The decision means the England
captain will be able to play in Real's league match at Deportivo Coruna on
Wednesday.
Real said that the Federation's Competitions Committee had brought
forward their weekly meeting in order to deal with a number of matters
including their appeal and had informed the club that Beckham was now free
to play.
Beckham was sent off three
minutes from the end of Sunday's 2-1 defeat at the Bernabeu by referee
Arturo Dauden Ibanez after receiving a booking for dissent and then a straight red
card for applauding the decision "in a sarcastic manner".
But Real appealed against the red card saying that video evidence and
photographs showed that Beckham's clapping was "neither scornful nor
sarcastic."
The Competitions Committee decided that Beckham's clapping formed part
of his initial protest and therefore the player should only have been
punished with the initial booking and not an additional red card.
"The clapping took place when the player's back
was turned to the referee and when he was returning to his position on the
pitch
," said the
Committee.
"Although the action is worthy of reproach it was not done in direct
confrontation and is seen as part of his original protest.
"Neither the incidents themselves nor the referee's report suggest that
there was an intention to insult or slight the referee."
Real said the Committee had imposed a fine of 60.1 euros on the club
for the incident in accordance with Federation rules.
The sending off was Beckham's third since joining Real in 2003 and the
sixth in his career.
Earlier this month he became the first England player to be sent off
twice when he was dismissed in a World Cup qualifier against Austria.
Real's Danish midfielder Thomas Gravesen was given also given a
straight red card in the Valencia match for a reckless challenge on winger
Vicente, but the club did not appeal against that decision.
Real have been highly critical of refereeing decisions that have gone
against them this season and came close to asking for last month's 1-0
defeat against Espanyol to be annulled because of what they said was a
refereeing error but they withdrew their threat at the last
minute. (Agencies) |