The Atletico Madrid fan who threw a lighter at Cristiano Ronaldo during the second leg of the Copa del Rey semi-finals at the Vicente Calderon faces a ban from sports venues lasting between six month to two years, plus a 50,000 euros fine.
The man has been identified by Atletico Madrid, although he managed to escape before police could arrest him in the stadium.
Sources from the Spanish Football Federation have confirmed to Spanish website ElConfidencial.com that Atletico will also be fined and given a stadium closure warning.
The referee pointed out in his report that “as we approached the changing room, a lighter impacted Real Madrid’s number 7 on the head; the player was able to continue playing in the second half.” The fact that Ronaldo didn’t require medical assistance will be a extenuating circumstance in the sanction procedure against Atletico.
Thus, the closure of the stadium will be ruled out, something that wouldn’t have happened if the lighter had hit the referee instead of a player.
Barcelona received the same punishment when a fan threw Luis Figo a pig’s head and when Roberto Carlos was also hit by a lighter.
When asked about the incident, Iker Casillas said: “There is always someone that tries to smear the image of a club like Atletico Madrid and it doesn’t reflect how the majority of their fans are. I think the consequences could be serious because it could have hurt a player.”
Meanwhile, Sergio Ramos added: “Things like that taint and damage a game like football. That’s why there are cameras, and if they detect it, the person should be prohibited from coming in during a good long time.”
Why would people do that just why? Wait I know beacuase of there jeaoulsy