A two-match ban given to Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho for poking Barcelona assistant Tito Vilanova in the eye has been lifted.
Amnesty on bans sees Real Madrid boss in the clear
A two-match ban given to Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho for poking Barcelona assistant Tito Vilanova in the eye has been lifted.
The decision comes as part of a general amnesty on suspensions, the Spanish soccer federation (RFEF) announced on Tuesday.
"Match bans up to four games and stadium bans up to two games will not be enforced," the RFEF ruled, according to a note distributed at the assembly.
Mourinho was sanctioned after attacking Vilanova from behind during the Spanish Super Cup last season.
Vilanova, who has since replaced Pep Guardiola as first-team coach at the Nou Camp, was also handed a one-match Super Cup ban for his reaction and this too has been rescinded.
As a result, both men are free to take their place on the bench for the first leg of the Super Cup between Real Madrid and Barcelona - the winners of last season's league and cup respectively.
The ban was rescinded by RFEF president Angel Maria Villar, who traditionally grants an amnesty after sealing re-election. He was voted in unopposed for a seventh four-year term in February.
But Barcelona president Sandro Rosell is unlikely to be happy with the decision to effectively allow Mourinho's aggression to go unpunished.
"We do not accept that an aggression towards our coach is not punished," Rosell said last month.
"If this happens, we will speak to the appropriate party, we will not let it go unpunished."
