Real Madrid duo Federico Valverde and Aurelien Tchouameni have each been hit with €500,000 fines – around £430,000 – for their roles in a training ground altercation that left the former in hospital.
The duo and their team-mates returned to their Valdebebas training ground after a day of chaos rocked the club, with Spanish outlets revealing on Thursday that a clash between the team-mates that started a day before had spilled into a physical confrontation.
Valverde reportedly refused to shake Tchouameni’s hand, according to the Athletic, despite doing so with the rest of the group. Then, in a training session, the team captain flew into a number of increasingly forceful challenges with his rival.
Drawn into the same team for a contest later in the session, Valverde is then thought to have implied that Tchouameni was lucky not to be facing off with him, before things took a more physical turn.
Valverde is believed to have insulted the Frenchman before he was struck. As the pair scrapped, the former hit a table, causing a cut which bled and briefly losing consciousness, which sparked deep concern from team-mates including Tchouameni.
Now, Madrid have revealed in a club statement that both players have apologised and accepted the fines that have been sent their way.
Federico Valverde (left) has emerged for the first time since his training ground bust-up with Aurelien Tchouameni left him hospitalised
‘Real Madrid C. F. announces that, following the events that led to the disciplinary proceedings initiated yesterday against our players Federico Valverde and Aurelien Tchouameni, both appeared today before the investigator assigned to the case,’ the statement began. ‘During their appearance, the players expressed their complete remorse for what happened and apologised to each other.
‘Furthermore, they extended their apologies to the club, their team-mates, the coaching staff, and the fans, and both have made themselves available to Real Madrid to accept whatever sanction the club deems appropriate.
‘Under these circumstances, Real Madrid has decided to impose a financial penalty of five hundred thousand euros on each player, thereby concluding the corresponding internal procedures.’
Valverde stepped back into the public eye on Friday, appearing to enjoy some down time with wife Mina and his children.
One of his children was seen in a chicken costume, with Valverde all smiles seemingly putting his club troubles behind him.
Tchouameni’s statement read: ‘What happened this week in training is unacceptable — I say this while thinking about the example we are expected to set for young people, whether in football or at school. No matter who is right or wrong, we should always look for the calmest solution to resolve a conflict. Above all, I am sorry for the image we projected of the club.
‘I know the fans, the staff, my teammates, the management, everyone is deeply disappointed by the way this season has unfolded. But frustration cannot excuse everything’.
‘These incidents, even if they can happen in any dressing room, are not worthy of Real Madrid. Especially since Real Madrid is the most talked-about club in the world.
Tchouameni and (left) Valverde have both been fined €500,000 and accepted the punishment
‘Anyway, now is no longer the time to figure out who did what, who said what, or who was right or wrong. I acknowledge the club’s sanction and I accept it.
‘We remain family, with disagreements at times but we must always put our objectives above everything else. I apologised to the group, and I also want to extend my apologies to all Madridistas.’
Real Madrid announced that the club would be opening disciplinary proceedings against both players in the aftermath of the fracas, with Valverde opting to release a statement stressing that neither he nor the France international hit one another.
Although Valverde is set to rest at home for 10 to 14 days – missing the final showpiece match of the season – Tchouameni was forced to face the music early on Friday morning, with cameras capturing his grim-faced drive to training.
By contrast Kylian Mbappe was all smiles, as he had been on Thursday afternoon when he left the complex apparently laughing to himself as he drove away.
The original argument is believed to have stemmed from a foul one player gave the other during Wednesday’s session, with heated words spilling into their return to the dressing room.
But hostilities increased when the players returned the following day, with head coach Alvaro Arbeloa believed to have held an emergency crisis meeting after Valverde’s departure to hospital in a bid to break the tension.
Valverde’s statement on Thursday evening suggested that the reality of ending a season without silverware had made everything seem ‘blown out of proportion’.
The incident is one of a number that have rocked the Real Madrid camp ahead of their clash with rivals Barcelona this week
The Manchester United transfer target added that he believed someone in the dressing room was ‘spreading rumours’.
‘I feel that my anger about the situation, frustration at seeing some of us struggling to get through end of season, giving it our all, pushed me to the point of arguing with a teammate,’ Valverde wrote in the lengthy statement. ‘I’m sorry. I’m truly sorry because this situation hurts me, this moment we’re going through is painful.
‘Real Madrid is one of the most important things in my life and I can’t be indifferent to it. The result is accumulation of things that culminate in a senseless fight, damaging my image and leaving room for doubt that they will add fuel to the fire of an accident.
‘I wasn’t going to speak out until the end of the season. We were eliminated from the Champions League, and I kept my anger and resentment to myself.
‘We’ve wasted another year, and I wasn’t in a position to be posting on social media when the only face I had to show was on the field, and I feel that’s what I did. That’s why I’m the one who’s most saddened and pained to be going through this situation that prevents me from playing the next match due to medical decisions.
‘I always gave it my all, to the very end, and it hurts me more than anyone not to be able to do so. I am available to the club and my teammates to collaborate on any decision they deem necessary. Thank you.’
This week’s drama comes against the backdrop of a noxious atmosphere at the Bernabeu which appears to have only been getting more toxic.
Antonio Rudiger was believed to have ‘slapped’ his team-mate Alvaro Carreras, with the latter issuing a statement appearing to confirm the confrontation, while Mbappe has come under heavy scrutiny for holidaying on a yacht with his girlfriend while recovering from injury.
Mbappe has also been accused in the Spanish press of becoming involved in a heated confrontation with a member of Arbeloa’s staff.
Division in the dressing room is thought to be rife, with a number of team-mates not speaking to one another, and as many as six refusing to speak to the manager himself.
Daily Mail Sport reported on Friday that even the players’ families are becoming wrapped up in the melodrama in Madrid, with two unnamed stars believed to have been prompted by their parents personally to club president Florentino Perez in a bid to receive more playing time.
Arbeloa will now attempt to corral his unruly players just days before meeting champions-in-waiting Barcelona at Camp Nou in a bid to avoid handing the title to their bitter foe with a humiliating defeat.
