Spain's football federation disciplinary committee has ruled that Real Madrid winger Vinícius Júnior will serve a four-match LaLiga suspension, according to reports by Goal.com and Yahoo Sports published on 14 October 2026, ruling him out of the club's next four league fixtures, including the 25 October El Clásico against Barcelona.
What happened in the Villarreal match
The incident occurred during Real Madrid's 1-0 win away at Villarreal on 10 October 2026, after a goal from Yan Diomande in the 62nd minute had put Madrid ahead, according to ESPN. Vinícius came on as a substitute in the 52nd minute and, around the 72nd minute, appeared to score a second goal for Madrid. VAR flagged the build-up for review, and the referee disallowed the goal after spotting Vinícius pulling the hair of Villarreal defender Nathan Saliba, Goal.com and ESPN reported.
The referee then showed Vinícius a straight red card. According to the match officials' report cited by ESPN, Vinícius disputed the decision, shouted and moved toward the referee with an aggressive attitude before being restrained by his own teammates; Real Madrid defender Antonio Rüdiger stepped in to intervene, according to Goal.com. Real Madrid held on to win the match 1-0 despite playing a man down.
Real Madrid manager José Mourinho skipped his scheduled post-match news conference, which ESPN linked to his anger over the officiating. Goal.com separately reported that Mourinho avoided commenting publicly out of concern his remarks about the refereeing could cause further trouble for the club.
Vinícius apologised on Instagram shortly after the match. "The joy remains. Sorry to my team and the fans," he wrote, according to ESPN.
How the four-match ban breaks down
The Spanish Football Federation's disciplinary committee split the suspension into two parts, according to Yahoo Sports and Goal.com: two matches for violent conduct over the hair-pulling incident, and two additional matches for his confrontational reaction toward match officials.
LaLiga matches Vinícius Júnior will miss| Match | Date |
|---|
| Sevilla | 18 October 2026 |
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| Barcelona (El Clásico) | 25 October 2026 |
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| Racing de Santander | 1 November 2026 |
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| Valencia | 7 November 2026 |
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According to Yahoo Sports, Vinícius is set to return to LaLiga action on 22 November against Celta Vigo. Yahoo Sports and Goal.com gave different dates for the final match of the ban, against Valencia: Yahoo Sports reported it as 6 November 2026, while Goal.com reported it as 7 November 2026; the table above follows Goal.com's date.
Real Madrid's response
Real Madrid intend to appeal the ruling in an effort to reduce the ban, according to reporting by The Athletic and journalist Fabrizio Romano cited by Goal.com. Goal.com added that such appeals against Spanish federation disciplinary rulings are rarely successful.
The suspension means Vinícius will sit out the first Clásico of the season, one of the most closely watched fixtures on the LaLiga calendar, as well as three other league matches over a span of roughly a month.
What is still unknown
None of the sources reviewed specify whether Real Madrid has formally filed its appeal yet, nor do they report a date by which the federation would rule on any appeal. It is also not yet confirmed whether a successful appeal, if filed, could reduce the ban in time to affect his availability for the Barcelona match.
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