MADRID: Cristiano Ronaldo was hit with a five-match ban by the Spanish football federation (RFEF) on Monday for pushing the referee after being sent off in Real Madrid’s 3-1 Spanish Super Cup, first leg win over Barcelona. The World Player of the Year received an automatic one-match ban for his dismissal on Sunday and an extra four games for his reaction towards referee Ricardo de Burgos Bengoetxea. Ronaldo was also fined 3,805 euros ($4,500) and has 10 days to appeal the ban. Should any appeal fail, Ronaldo will miss Wednesday’s Super Cup, second leg and Madrid’s first four La Liga games of the season against Deportivo la Coruna, Valencia, Levante and Real Sociedad. However, Ronaldo will feature in Champions League on September 12 or 13. Published in Daily Times, August 15th 2017.