Madrid’s Bellingham banned for two matches after Valencia red card

Jude Bellingham has been suspended for Real Madrid’s next two La Liga matches after he was sent off against Valencia last weekend, the Spanish football federation said Wednesday.

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Madrid appealed against his red card but the federation’s disciplinary committee dismissed their complaint that referee Jesus Gil Manzano made an “error” by dismissing Bellingham.

The England international, La Liga’s top scorer with 16 strikes, netted moments after the referee blew for full-time in Madrid’s 2-2 draw at Valencia.

Bellingham, 20, ran over to the referee insisting the goal should stand and was sent off, with Gil Manzano saying he showed an “aggressive attitude” and was “shouting”.

The midfielder misses upcoming La Liga games against Celta Vigo and Osasuna.

Real Madrid lead the top flight by seven points ahead of Girona and are eight in front of rivals Barcelona, third.

Meanwhile, Spanish prosecutors on Wednesday called for Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti to be jailed for four years and nine months, saying he had failed to declare earnings to the tax office.

Madrid state prosecutor’s office accused the 64-year-old Italian of having cost Spain’s treasury more than one million euros in undeclared earnings from image rights in 2014 and 2015.

“Although he himself declared himself to be a tax resident in Spain and indicated that his home was in Madrid, he only declared in his tax returns the personal remuneration received from Real Madrid,” the tax office said in a statement.

It accused Ancelotti of allegedly setting up a “confusing” and “complex” system of shell companies to hide his extra earnings from his image rights as well as from other sources such as real estate.

Prosecutors also alleged the Real Madrid coach “simulated” the transfer of his image rights to entities “without any real activity” based outside of Spain to maintain “opacity vis-a-vis” the Spanish treasury.

He earned 1.24 million euros ($1.3 million) in 2014 from the sale of his image rights and 2.96 million euros in 2015, according to prosecutors.

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A Spanish court in July ordered Ancelotti — regarded as one of the greatest coaches of all time — to stand trial over the affair, but no date has been set.

A judge leading the investigation said Ancelotti had “acknowledged” the actions which deprived the treasury of money, according to a 2023 court document seen by AFP last year, which could open the door to an agreement with prosecutors to settle the case without trial and avoid prison.

Real Madrid face RB Leipzig on Wednesday in a Champions League last-16 second leg clash, after Ancelotti’s side carved out a 1-0 advantage in Germany.