The Spanish soccer federation (RFEF) on Monday suspended Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone for eight games after he was sent off during the second-leg of his team’s 2-1 aggregate winagainst Real Madrid in the Spanish Super Cup. Monday’s announcement came three days after the La Liga champ’s 1-0 win at the Vicente Calderon in the second game of the two-game series.
Simeone was ejected in the 25th minute of Friday’s game for dissent after he vociferously called for Juanfran Torres to be allowed back on the field after being treated for a cut onhis lip. Speaking ahead of Atleti’s La Liga opener on Monday, Simeone said: ‘“What happened the other day is a closed issue. Reiterating and talking about the same thing is not good.The people who have to make a decision will do what they believe to be fair … when one makes a mistake it’s fair to pay for it.”
According to the report, Simeone’s banbreaks down as follows: four games for tapping the back of the linesman’s head, two games for protesting, one game for sarcastically applauding his sending off, and one game for remaining in thestands instead of leaving of the stadium.
German Burgos, Simeone’s assistant, will take the reigns while the Atleti coach serves his suspension.