Vinicius Junior’s four-match suspension for grabbing an opponent by the hair has revived memories of some of football’s most severe disciplinary punishments.
The Brazil forward was involved in the incident during Real Madrid’s latest La Liga match, adding to a reputation for attracting attention away from his football. BBC Sport looks at the offences that have led to lengthy bans across the game.
Hair-pulling leads to four-match ban
Real Madrid went into their eighth-round La Liga match against Villarreal without having scored until the second half, when Yan Diomande gave the home side the lead.
Vinicius Junior had been on the pitch for only 10 minutes when he and Jude Bellingham appeared to combine for Real Madrid’s second goal in the 73rd minute. However, the move was not as straightforward as it first seemed.
Villarreal player Nathan-Dylan Saliba, who had also come on after half-time and had plenty of energy, lost a race to Bellingham in the build-up. A VAR review then showed that Vinicius had held Saliba in the opening stages of the move – and had grabbed him by the hair.
Vinicius celebrated the goal as normal, and Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho even ran over to congratulate him. The video review changed matters, however, and the disciplinary committee of the Royal Spanish Football Federation suspended Vinicius for four matches for unsporting behaviour.
He is expected to miss games against Sevilla, Racing and Valencia. His absence could also prove significant for Real Madrid’s El Clasico against Barcelona on 25 October.
Violence towards opponents and officials
In 2012, Queens Park Rangers captain Joey Barton was sent off and subsequently banned for 12 matches after a confrontation with Carlos Tevez. Barton initially swung an arm at the forward, an offence that brought a four-match suspension, before going on to strike Sergio Aguero and headbutt Vincent Kompany. Those actions earned him a further eight matches.
Players have also received severe punishments for physical contact with referees. Aleksandar Mitrovic was banned for eight matches after pushing an official during an FA Cup match against Manchester United in 2023.
Paolo Di Canio was suspended for 11 matches while playing for Sheffield Wednesday after striking a referee during a match against Arsenal on 26 September 1998.
Hertha Berlin’s Levan Kobiashvili was banned from football for seven months, missing 19 of his team’s matches, after hitting a referee in the face during a German Championship play-off match.
In one of Austria’s lower divisions, Ismail Gunduz received a 70-match suspension after heading the referee in the chest with such force that the official had to be taken to hospital.
The longest punishment went to Ricardo Ferreira of the fourth tier of Swiss football. After his team lost, Ferreira kicked the ball into the referee’s face and poured water over the official from bottles. He had previously carried out a similar act. The Swiss Football Association imposed a 50-year ban.
Eric Cantona was suspended for nine months and ordered to complete 120 hours of community service after kicking an opposing supporter in the lower rows of the stand. The former France international later said he had no regrets and would do the same again.
Luis “The Biter” Suarez was punished three times for biting opponents: seven matches in the Netherlands for biting Otman Bakkal, 10 matches in the Premier League for biting Branislav Ivanovic, and nine matches for biting Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini during the third group-stage match at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.