Real Madrid team-mates Aurelien Tchouameni and Federico Valverde have been fined €500,000 (£432,000) after an investigation into a training ground altercation between the pair.
The players were involved in a physical confrontation at the end of training on Wednesday, with tempers understood to have flared again in training on Thursday, with Valverde ending up in hospital and later being diagnosed with cranioencephalic trauma.
It was announced on Thursday that disciplinary proceedings had been opened against the two players following a crisis meeting at the club’s training ground held by Real Madrid’s president Florentino Perez.
The financial punishment for both has now been confirmed, but neither player has been handed a suspension, meaning Tchouameni could be available to feature in Sunday’s Clasico against Barcelona. Madrid have already confirmed that Valverde will be out of action for between 10 days and two weeks.
A club statement read: “Real Madrid C. F. announces that, following the events that led to the disciplinary proceedings initiated yesterday against our players Federico Valverde and Aurelien Tchouameni, both appeared today before the investigator assigned to the case.
“During their appearance, the players expressed their complete remorse for what happened and apologised to each other.
“Furthermore, they extended their apologies to the club, their team-mates, the coaching staff, and the fans, and both have made themselves available to Real Madrid to accept whatever sanction the club deems appropriate.
“Under these circumstances, Real Madrid has decided to impose a financial penalty of five hundred thousand euros on each player, thereby concluding the corresponding internal procedures.”
Real Madrid face Barcelona on Sunday with anything but victory handing Hansi Flick’s side La Liga title. It would be the first time in history that either team has claimed the trophy with a result against their Clasico rival.
Tchouameni admits training incident ‘unacceptable’
In a statement released on his social media on Friday, Tchouameni admitted the altercation was “unacceptable” and urged for focus to be placed on the upcoming Clasico contest with Barcelona.
‘What happened this week in training is unacceptable,” Tchouameni wrote on Instagram. “I say this while thinking about the example we are meant to set for young people, whether in football or at school.
“Above all, I am sorry for the image we projected of the club. I know the fans, the staff, my team-mates, the management, everyone is deeply disappointed by the way this season has unfolded.
“But frustration cannot excuse everything. These incidents, even if they can happen in any dressing room, are not worthy at Real Madrid. Especially since Real Madrid is the most talked-about club in the world.
“The internet loves to invent the wildest stores for the buzz, so don’t believe everything that’s being said, or the false narrative.
“Now is no longer the time to figure out who did what, who said what or who was right or wrong. I acknowledge the club’s sanction and accept it. We remain a family, with disagreements at times, but we must always put our objectives above everything else. I have apologised to the group and I want to extend my apologies to all Madridstas.
“Now it’s time to move forward and our focus is on El Clasico and on the season ahead, to bring the club back to the top where it belongs.”
Valverde: ‘No punches were thrown’
Despite the club confirming that Valverde had gone to hospital and suffered a traumatic brain injury, the Uruguayan midfielder released a statement on Thursday denying that he had been involved in a physical altercation with anyone.
With Valverde being told to rest for up to two weeks, he may only just return in time for Madrid’s final La Liga game of the season against Athletic Bilbao on Sunday May 24.
“Yesterday I had an incident with a team-mate as a result of a play during training, where the fatigue of competition and frustration make everything seem bigger than it is,” the statement read.
“In a normal locker room, these things can happen and are resolved among ourselves without becoming public. Obviously, there is someone behind the scenes who quickly spreads the story, and combined with a season without titles-where Madrid is always under the spotlight-everything gets blown out of proportion.
“Today we had another disagreement. During the argument, I accidentally hit a table, causing myself a small cut on my forehead that required a routine visit to the hospital.
“At no point did my team-mate hit me, nor did I hit him, although I understand it may be easier for people to believe that we got into a fistfight or that it was intentional-but that did not happen.
“I feel that my anger about the situation, my frustration at seeing some of us reaching the end of the season on our last legs, giving everything we have, pushed me to the point of arguing with a team-mate.
“I’m sorry. I’m sincerely sorry because this situation hurts me, and the moment we are going through hurts me. Madrid is one of the most important things in my life, and I cannot be indifferent.
“The result is an accumulation of things that ended in a meaningless fight, damaging my image and leaving room for doubt, invention, defamation, and embellishment of an accident. I have no doubt that any friction we may have off the field disappears on the field, and if I have to defend him inside a stadium, I will be the first to do so.
“I was not going to speak until the end of the season. We were eliminated from the Champions League, and I kept my anger and resentment to myself. We have wasted another year, and I was not in a place to make social media posts when the only face I needed to show was on the field – and I feel I did that.
“That is why it pains and saddens me more than anyone to go through this situation, which prevents me from playing in the next match due to medical decisions, because I have always gone until the very end, whatever the consequences. It hurts me more than anyone not to be able to do so. I am at the club’s and my teammates’ disposal to cooperate with whatever decision they deem necessary.”
