The Contentious Administrative Court number 4 of Madrid has upheld the appeal of the player Sergio Canales against the four-match ban he received last season, when he played for Betis, for saying that his expulsion against Cádiz in the League was premeditated by of referee Antonio Mateu Lahoz.
The disciplinary bodies of the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) sanctioned Canales with 4 matches and a fine of 601 euros in March of this year after stating, at the end of the match with Valladolid, on February 18, that former referee Antonio Mateu Lahoz He had been premeditatedly sent off in the clash against Cádiz played in October.
The sentence to which EFE had access, understands that the principles of typicality, guilt and presumption of innocence of Sergio Canales have been violated, motivated by an error of expression and interpretation in the player's statements.
After this ruling, Canales will be able to compete with his current club, Rayados de Monterrey of Mexico, in the next Clausura 2024 championship without any type of sanction. The player went to the ordinary courts after his appeals were not upheld and obtained a precautionary suspension of his punishment when he had already served one of the sanction matches.
Canales maintained that his behavior "always with the referees on and off the field has been exemplary, showing them maximum respect throughout my professional career."
"This has been the case since I debuted in 2008 and this is how it continues to be now in the Mexican league. Therefore, I feel happy that justice has been done. My conscience has always been very clear because I know that I have not made any mistake in the treatment to the arbitration team. If I had done so, I would have apologized immediately," he said.
In statements sent to EFE, Canales thanked Real Betis Balompié, his agency Best Of You and Laffer Abogados "who have fought" for him "to the last consequences."
The Competition Committee sanctioned Canales on March 29, for some statements he made at the end of the match on matchday 22, against Valladolid, on February 18, when he said that the Valencian referee had "premeditated" his expulsion in the match on October 19 against Cádiz.
The then Betic captain then appealed to the Appeals Committee and based his appeal on the fact that he did not utter the word "premeditated", but rather said an "unintelligible" term and that "what he intended to say was that he had been sanctioned in a hasty manner (both cards were very fast and I didn't have time to talk to him), considering that stating that the referee was hasty would fall within the limits of freedom of expression", something that was proven with videos of statements made in subsequent days.
The appeal rejected these arguments, due to the dissemination of Canales' statements in a media outlet, because the complaint sent by the RFEF security director who originated the file transcribes the term "premeditated" and is the basis for considering them as a serious infraction. according to article 106.
Subsequently, the player went to the TAD and requested the precautionary suspension of the sanction that was denied, so he transferred the case to the ordinary justice system, which has resolved in his favor.
