Days After Breaking Rival’s Leg in Two, Cristiano Ronaldo’s Off-Field ‘Friend’ Banned for 2 Games & Fined $6000

Soccer is a high-contact physical sport. From horror tackles and poorly timed challenges, to simply unpleasant collisions, soccer fans over the years have witnessed some devastating effects of soccer. However, an injury incident involving an ex-teammate of Cristiano Ronaldo has sent shockwaves across the world.

Cr7’s Real Madrid teammate and fellow 5 times UCL winner Marcelo was involved in a horrific tackle with rival player Luciano Sanchez. The tackle by the Brazilian was such that Sanchez broke his leg in a terrifying manner. Nearly 8 days after the incident, CONMEBOL has finally come with a statement announcing punishment for the Brazilian’s actions.

CONEMBOL announces 2 games ban and $6000 fine for the ex-teammate of Cristiano Ronaldo

The worst part about the tackle by Marcelo was the fact that it was unintentional. Marcelo, in his trademark style, dribbled inside to the half-space and during this sequence of events, his leg stamped Sanchez’s leg, which was in an awkward position. The contact, despite short-lived, was so sharp that Luciano’s leg got completely dislocated. Marcelo obviously was very upset with this gruesome injury. Hence, he publicly expressed his disappointment in his actions. “Today I had a very difficult moment on the pitch,” Marcelo posted on Instagram. “I unintentionally injured a fellow player. I want to wish him the best possible recovery. All the strength in the world.”

Over a week later, the CONMEBOL issued a statement condemning Marcelo’s actions. The sporting body announced that they were issuing a two-match ban for the Brazilian. This means that Marcelo will be absent for a total of three matches counting the automatic match ban for receiving a red card on the matchday. On the monetary front, CONMEBOL announced that $6000 “will be automatically debited from the amount to be received by his club in the concept of television rights and sponsorship.”

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Honestly, this is a tricky situation to judge as neutral. On one hand, it was an unintentional injury. Meanwhile, it is one of the most devastating injuries in recent memory as well. Hence, it’s hard to justify the punishment with the injury. It’s a grey area.

Doctors term Sanchez’s injury as ‘never seen’ before

When you first see the sequence of events, you might barely recognize the gravity of the injury. But all it took was a few seconds for Sanchez’s leg to get snapped. Alejandro Roncoroni [general secretary of Argentine Juniors] after the initial reports explained that his injury “is practically a separation of what is the femur, the tibia and the fibula, from what is the knee joint.”

Later on, AFA’s chief medical officer, Donato Tucho Villani, came to the press and shared his shocking reaction to Sanchez’s injury. “I started in the sport in the year 82 and I have been in soccer for more than 30 years, and this is the most shocking injury that I had to live closely; because it was just on the side of the bank, it was terrible. An injury, which the truth is, I have never seen in soccer and I don’t think many soccer doctors have seen this type of injury,” the doctor said in an interview with TyC Sports.

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While Marcelo initially seemed unfazed by the accidental tackle, the moment he saw Sanchez’s snapped leg; a shockwave like the rest of us hit the Brazilian. The injury is really gruesome. Here’s wishing Sanchez a speedy recovery!