The red card at La Cartuja

Real Betis and Barcelona met at La Cartuja in Seville on Saturday, 17 October, and Barcelona won 5-2. Facundo Bernal, a 23-year-old Uruguayan midfielder, was sent off with a direct red card in the 54th minute, when Betis were trailing 3-2. The referee's report records that Bernal held Lamine Yamal by the neck and headbutted him twice in the face while the ball was out of play. Yamal was shown a yellow card, and the report states that he did not need medical assistance and was able to continue. The incident followed Betis's second goal, scored by Abde, while Fermín lay on the pitch after a challenge the referee had not penalised.

The committee's ruling

On Wednesday, 21 October, the RFEF Disciplinary Committee imposed a four-match suspension on Bernal, which it described as the minimum allowed by the regulations. Betis had argued that the referee's report contained a manifest material error, but the committee said the video footage it reviewed showed Bernal carrying out the action described in the report. In its resolution the committee classified the conduct as an aggression under article 103.1 of the RFEF disciplinary code, not as mere violent conduct under article 130.2. Because it imposed the minimum penalty, the committee said it did not need to assess the mitigating factor of sufficient provocation that the club had raised. In its resolution, the committee put it this way.

“Such conduct, consisting of holding an opponent by the neck and delivering two consecutive headbutts to the face, with the ball out of play, constitutes an aggression”

The committee rejected all of the club's submissions, so the suspension covers Bernal's league matches against Celta, Málaga and Elche and the Seville derby against Sevilla.

Betis's objections and the appeal

Betis had asked for the red card to be annulled and, alternatively, for the incident to be treated under article 130.2 with the mitigating circumstance of sufficient provocation under article 10.b). The club submitted further footage of the action and argued that the match report did not reflect the earlier confrontation or the intervention of Yamal, who was booked. Betis is reported to plan an appeal, although one account notes that a challenge will be difficult because the four-match ban is the minimum available. If the appeal fails, Bernal will be unavailable for the league matches against Celta, Málaga, Elche and Sevilla, as well as the Copa del Rey tie against CDA Navalcarnero.

Apology and the wider fallout

After the match Bernal apologised on social media to his teammates and Betis supporters for leaving the side with a man fewer. He said he does not usually react that way, that he should have controlled himself in the incident, and that he takes responsibility and it will not happen again. According to the account of the incident, Yamal had moved in to defend Fermín, took a shove from Bernal and then pushed him back before Bernal grabbed him by the neck. Betis supporters on social media argued that Yamal also deserved a harsher punishment, but one account expects no change to the ruling. Coach Manuel Pellegrini will have to manage without the midfielder, and reports indicate Bernal will only be available again after the international break. A separate account also says Betis sporting director Manu Fajardo was given a two-match ban for his conduct during the same game.