The referee who gave Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo a red card against Athletic Bilbao has been given a month off after his performance at the New San Mames. RefereeMiguel Angel Ayza Gamez showed the Portugal international a straight red card for striking out at Carlos Gurpegi in Los Blancos’ 1-1 draw with Athletic Bilbaoon Sunday. Radio station Cadena Cope revealed that Gamez is now set for a four-week layoff, and he will not referee any more Real games this season.
Meanwhile, Ronaldo has been handed athree-game ban for an alleged gesture toward the fourth official when coming off. Spain’s Soccer Federation’sAppeals Committee on Friday rejected Real’s appeal against Ronaldo’s three-game suspension, which means he will be unavailable for the league games against Villarreal, Getafe andElche.