Real Madrid's bid to get its King's Cup expulsion "temporarily suspended, pending a final decision on an appeal, has been rejected by the Spanish government's Disciplinary Committee for Sports (TAD)," according to Iain Rogers of REUTERS.
The club included the ineligible Denis Cheryshev in its starting lineup for last week's last 32, first leg game at third-tier Cadiz when he "should have been serving a one-match ban." Real said that it "respected the committee's decision," announced after a meeting on Friday, and that it "would refund anyone who had bought tickets for the return leg due to be played at the Bernabeu stadium on Wednesday." The club said the match could not be played "on the planned date," suggesting it still expected to win its appeal and to be reinstated.
Real President Florentino Perez said the team "did not break the rules" and said neither Cheryshev, who incurred the sanction playing on loan at Villarreal last season, nor the 10-times European champions "were notified that he was banned" (REUTERS, 12/11).
