BARCELONA, Spain (AP) 鈥� Real Madrid slapped players Federico Valverde and Aur茅lien Tchouam茅ni with half-a-million-euro ($588,000) fines on Friday for their .
The massive fines came a day after the midfielders tussled when the team trained. Valverde said in a post on social media on Thursday that no punches were thrown. But Valverde knocked his head on a table and he suffered a small cut that required a brief hospital visit.
On social media, Valverde initially called it a 鈥渕eaningless fight鈥� with a teammate and said 鈥渆verything has been blown out of proportion.”
His employers, however, considered it a significant enough breach of team discipline to nail both Valverde and Tchouam茅ni with fines that bite even the bank account of a top soccer player. The half-a-million euro penalties reflect the reputational damage the club was enduring in a chaotic end to a disappointing season.
In a statement, the 15-time European champion said its disciplinary action was concluded after both players expressed to the club 鈥渢heir complete remorse for what happened and apologized to one another.鈥�
Madrid added they also apologized to their teammates, the coaching staff and club supporters, as well as showing their willingness to accept whatever disciplinary action the club deemed 鈥渙pportune.鈥�
Tchouam茅ni was back training with Madrid on Friday, two days before they play at Barcelona in a clasico. Madrid has to win otherwise Barcelona will be .
After being notified of the fine, he posted a public apology to the club and its fans on social media.
鈥淲hat happened this week in training is unacceptable,鈥� Tchouam茅ni wrote. “I say this while thinking about the example we are expected to set for young people, whether in football or at school.
鈥淎bove all, I am sorry for the image we projected of the club.鈥�
Valverde was not at practice due to the head knock.
Both players are set to play in the next month, with Tchouam茅ni playing for France and Valverde for Uruguay.
Chaotic end to a poor season
The run-in between the players, who for seasons have played side by side in Madrid’s midfield, came after they argued this week in previous training sessions. But tempers boiled over on Thursday. Spanish media was rife with reports that the players previously disagreed over the club’s decision to after just months on the job.
It was not the only altercation involving Madrid players during training this week. 脕lvaro Carreras confirmed he was in a 鈥渕inor鈥� incident with a teammate. Spanish media said he and fellow defender Antonio R眉diger got into a scuffle.
脕lvaro Arbeloa, the coach who was promoted from Madrid’s reserve team when Alonso was fired in January, will face tough questions on what went wrong inside the changing room when he gives a press conference on Saturday ahead of the clasico at Camp Nou.
Madrid is facing a second consecutive campaign without a major trophy amid rumors in the Spanish media that club president Florentino P茅rez is considering bringing back Jose Mourinho to straighten out his underperforming team.
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