Real Madrid had a "Chumi case" in 2016 but faced no sanctions
Barcelona face a charge of fielding an ineligible player in their Cup tie against Levante, but Madrid did exactly the same thing in 2016 with Álvaro Tejero.
Barcelona are expected to learn their fate on Friday over the decision to play central defender Chumi in the 2-1 defeat Ernesto Valverde’s side suffered at the Ciutat de Valencia last week.
Barcelona overturned the deficit in a 3-0 victory at Camp Nou on Thursday evening to go through to the quarter-finals, but Levante have filed an official complaint with the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) calling for Barça to be disqualified and the match awarded to them.
Levante’s complaint stems from Chumi starting the teams last-16 clash on January 10 despite being banned, having received a suspension for Barcelona's B side in Segunda División B, the third tier of Spanish league football.
Barça, meanwhile, are sure they have done nothing wrong due to a rule change introduced last November that states a footballer playing for a reserve side who receives a short ban - fewer than two games, as is the case with Chumi - would be allowed to feature for the first team in another competition, freeing the 19-year-old up to play against Levante.
Barça confident and Real Madrid prededent went unpunished
Ernesto Valverde has said that he was aware he could not use Chumi in the league game against Eibar last weekend as he was banned from league competition, but the rule change means he would have been eligible for the Copa.
Real Madrid had a “Chumi moment” in the Copa del Rey two years ago in the last 31 match against Cultural Leonesa. Castilla Defender Álvaro Tejero picked up a fifth yellow card for the reserves in Segunda B against Sanse on November 26 and then played for the senior side in the Copa fixture before sitting out his ban in the league a few days later away at Navalcarnero.
There were no complaints filed by Cultural Leonesa and no retrospective action taken by the RFEF on that occasion.
When Madrid were disqualified from the 2015-16 Copa del Rey after a match against Cádiz in December 2015, it was because midfielder Denis Cheryshev had been selected for the game by Rafa Betíntez, with neither the coach, the player or the club apparently aware that he was banned after picking up three yellows and a suspension the previous season. In the Copa del Rey, suspensions carry over to the next season and to new teams, if a player moves.
Madrid were kicked out of the competition and a subsequent appeal failed to bear fruit.
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