Real Madrid midfielder Federico Valverde will not face any punishment over the alleged assault of Villarreal midfielder Alex Baena as the Spanish football federation’s competition committee has ended its investigation without charges.
The 25-year-old was accused of punching Baena in the car park at the Bernabeu following a La Liga match between the two teams in April. However, earlier this month, a judge halted a criminal investigation into the matter, citing a lack of evidence.
Lawyers representing Valverde and Real Madrid argued that since the criminal court had determined that the offence could not been proven, the competition committee’s own inquiry, which could have resulted in a five-game ban for the Uruguayan international, should be dropped as well.
The committee has now accepted this argument, stating that once the criminal court ruled out the offence, they had to follow suit and did not consider the substance of the allegations.
Had Valverde been found guilty, he would have been at risk of missing the first five La Liga games of the 2023/24 season, against Athletic Club, Almeria, Celta Vigo, Getafe, and Real Sociedad.
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The alleged incident took place after Villarreal’s surprising 3-2 victory at the Bernabeu on April 8. Sources reported that Valverde waited by Villarreal’s team bus to confront Baena over comments made during the game, leading to the reported altercation.
It was alleged that Baena made a remark to Valverde regarding his wife’s unborn baby, amid rumors of pregnancy complications. Baena and his representatives denied this claim.
Villarreal issued a statement the following day asserting that Baena had been assaulted and decided to report the matter to the police.
Valverde, who made 34 league appearances for Real Madrid last season and scored twice in the club’s pre-season friendly match against AC Milan, will now be available for the team’s season opener against Athletic Club on August 12.
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