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Atletico Madrid were today handed a €600 fine after Cristiano Ronaldo was struck on the head by a cigarette lighter as he walked off the Vicente Calderon pitch on Tuesday.
The incident happened as the teams walked off at half time in their Copa Del Rey semi-final. It was a tempestuous atmosphere. Atletico were being humbled by their biggest rivals, and the always lively Atleti crowd were in no mood to contain their anger. Ronaldo, as always, was the target of the fans abuse. This time, it went much too far.
RFEF explained the paltry nature of the fine by saying that it had been an isolated incident. They also said that the fine could have been even lower, had Atletico been able to name the culprit, and taken appropriate action against them.
Atletico could have expected a much bigger fine. Despite the RFEF’s placatory words, there had also been ugly incidents at last week’s first leg at the Bernabeu. A group of Atletico fans were guilty of chanting racist abuse at Real defender Marcelo. Atletico have been performing heroics on the pitch this season, but it’s now time that they got their off the field performances in order too.
