Real Madrid’s Sergio Ramos charged for deliberate booking

TIL Desk Sports/ European soccer’s governing body UEFA has charged Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos with “receiving a yellow card on purpose” in the club’s Champions League tie against Ajax Amsterdam earlier this month.

Ramos fouled Kasper Dolberg in the 89th minute of the last-16, first leg tie in the Netherlands, which the holders won 2-1. As a result, the 32-year-old is suspended from next Tuesday’s second leg. UEFA decided to investigate the incident after Ramos told reporters he would “be lying if I said I didn’t force (the booking)”.

Although Ramos later said: “I was referring to forcing the foul, a foul that was inevitable. Not to forcing the booking.”That’s why I said that I would lie if I said I did not know that I was carrying a penalty, just as I knew that I had no other choice than to make a mistake.

“And that’s what I meant when I said that in football you have to make complicated decisions.”Missing the home tie against the Dutch side would reduce Ramos’s chances of possibly missing a more important match later in the competition, as all bookings are wiped following the quarter-final stage.