Soccer-Real's Vinicius apologises after red card for hair pull against Villarreal


Soccer Football - LaLiga - Real Madrid v Villarreal - Estadio Bernabeu, Madrid, Spain - October 10, 2026 Referee Isidro Diaz shows a red card to Real Madrid's Vinicius Junior REUTERS/Alejandro Martinez Velez

Oct ⁠11 (Reuters) - Real Madrid's Vinicius Jr has apologised ⁠to his teammates and the club's fans ‌after being sent off in the 1-0 win over Villarreal in LaLiga at the Santiago Bernabeu on Saturday.

Vinicius now faces ​a nervous wait for the ⁠ruling of the ⁠disciplinary committee, which could see him miss Real's fixture ⁠with ‌rivals Barcelona on October 25 at Camp Nou.

The Brazilian thought he had scored ⁠Real's second goal but his effort was ​disallowed after ‌a VAR review found he should be ⁠dismissed for ​pulling Nathan Saliba's hair in the build-up.

After the match, Vinicius, who came on in the 52nd minute ⁠and was red carded 20 ​minutes later, posted on social media, saying, "sorry to the team and the fans."

Spanish Football Federation regulations state ⁠that pulling an opponent's hair is regarded as violent conduct.

The sanction for violent conduct without causing injury to an opponent (Article 130) is a ban ​of one to three matches.

Real's ⁠next three LaLiga games are against Sevilla, Barca ​and Racing Santander, but missing ‌El Clasico would be a ​bitter blow for the 26-year-old Brazil international.

(Reporting by Ruairidh Barlow; Editing by Ken Ferris)

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