Real Betis will play its next three home games away from its stadium as punishment after Sevilla coach Juande Ramos was knocked unconscious by a bottle thrown by its fans.
The Spanish federation ruled that Betis will have to play Zaragoza next week, Villarreal on April 1 and Real Sociedad on April 15 at other stadiums. It is not clear whether fans will be allowed to attend.
Ramos was hit on the head during the second half of Wednesday's Copa del Rey quarter-final second leg at Betis' Manuel Ruiz de Lopera stadium with Sevilla leading 1-0, forcing the match to be abandoned.
PHOTO: AP
"The committee has decided unanimously to close the Manuel Ruiz de Lopera stadium for three matches, as we consider the incidents that occurred as very serious," Anti-violence Committee president Alfredo Florez said on Friday.
The remaining 33 minutes will be played in Getafe's Coliseum Alfonso Perez stadium on March 20 and fans won't be allowed to attend.
The federation also said that presidents Pepe Leon of Betis and Jose Maria del Nido of Sevilla are to face further disciplinary action.
PHOTO: AP
Spanish sports minister Jaime Lissavetzky had urged the federation to act against the violent incident with "the greatest rigor."
Ramos was hit by the bottle after Sevilla had taken a 1-0 lead with a 59th-minute goal by Frederic Kanoute. The coach, who stumbled before falling to the ground, was carried off on a stretcher but regained consciousness later.
Referee Alberto Undiano Mallenco abandoned the game soon afterward. Some Betis fans threw objects at an ambulance which entered the stadium for Ramos, resulting in riot police being deployed.
Ramos attended the team's training session on Thursday morning after being released from hospital, though doctors had recommended he rest for 48 hours.
According to press reports, a fan said the bottle which struck Ramos belonged to him but was grabbed by the aggressor, whom he described as being in "a drunken state." The fan, who was not identified, said it was a plastic, half-liter bottle which was half-full with a soft drink.
Ramos said the incident had resulted from an aggressive atmosphere in days leading up to the match.
Tensions ran high after a dispute between Del Nido and Betis' majority shareholder, Manuel Ruiz de Lopera, which followed a recent league match between the rivals at Betis' stadium.
Betis initially said that Del Nido would be banned for life from its stadium, although it was forced to rescind the policy after the federation warned the game could be canceled if acrimony persisted.
Yu Yao-hsing on Tuesday nabbed Taiwan’s only goal in the final round of qualifiers for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup, as they fell 3-1 to Sri Lanka at Taipei Municipal Stadium. Early goals from Sri Lanka in the first half left Taiwan struggling to get on the board, and Christopher Tiao’s own goal at 53 minutes sealed the team’s fate in the third round of qualifiers. While acknowledging that the defeat, Taiwan’s sixth in Group D, was disappointing, head coach Matt Ross said he saw reasons to stay positive about the team’s development. “There were lots of positive signs in terms of the
Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli yesterday vowed to “keep raising the bar” after winning the Japanese Grand Prix to become the youngest driver in Formula One history to lead the championship standings. The 19-year-old Italian took advantage of a mid-race safety car to jump into the lead after a dreadful start from pole position, crossing the line ahead of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. Antonelli’s Suzuka victory came two weeks after the first grand prix win of his career in China, and sent him top of the championship standings after three races, nine points ahead of team-mate George Russell. Mercedes are struggling to
INDIGESTION: Italy failed to qualify for the World Cup for a third consecutive time after a 4-1 defeat to Bosnia on penalties in a loss Gattuso said was ‘difficult to digest’ Coach Graham Arnold on Tuesday challenged his players to “shock the world” after Iraq became the 48th and final team to qualify for the FIFA World Cup with a nerve-shredding 2-1 win over Bolivia in an intercontinental playoff in Mexico, as Bosnia and Herzegovina, Turkey, the Czech Republic, Sweden and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) also secured their places at the finals. Iraq, whose preparations were disrupted by the war in the Middle East, sealed their first appearance at the finals in 40 years and are to play in Group I against France, Senegal and Norway. Goals from Ali al-Hamadi
Teng Kai-wei, the only Taiwanese player on an opening-day roster in this year’s Major League Baseball (MLB) season, took his first win of the year with the Houston Astros in his season debut. Teng entered in relief in the top of the fifth inning against the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday, with the Astros trailing 5-0. He pitched 2-1/3 scoreless innings with two strikeouts, as Houston scored 11 runs during his outing to snatch an 11-9 comeback victory. The win is the Astros’ first of the season and the third of Teng’s MLB career. “It’s my first time pitching for the Astros, so
RSS