MADRID: Cristiano Ronaldo lost his appeal to the Spanish football federation (RFEF) of his five-match ban for pushing a referee after being sent off in the Spanish Super Cup first leg.

Ronaldo shoved referee Ricardo de Burgos Bengo­etxea when he was dismissed for diving in Real’s 3-1 win over Barcelona on Sunday.

He will now miss Wednesday’s second leg as well as the first four La Liga games of the season.

Real begin their defence of La Liga on Sunday at Deportivo la Coruna and Ronaldo will also be absent for home games against Valencia and Levante and a trip to Real Sociedad.

Published in Dawn, August 17th, 2017