Thursday 3 December 2015 11:10, UK
Real Madrid say they were initially unaware that Denis Cheryshev was ineligible to play during their 3-1 Copa del Rey victory over Cadiz, an error which could lead to the club being ejected from the tournament.
The Russia international opened the scoring three minutes into Wednesday's fourth-round first-leg tie but he should have been serving a ban for receiving three yellow cards in the tournament when with Villarreal last season.
He was substituted just after half-time when Real realised the blunder but that is considered unlikely to save them from disqualification.
Cadiz president Manuel Vizcaino has confirmed that the club will be reporting Real to the RFEF.
He said: "The circumstances require a quick decision and the Cadiz board has decided to report Madrid for fielding an ineligible player."
Last season Osasuna lost their place in the Copa for playing an ineligible player and current Real boss Rafael Benitez was in charge of Valencia when they were disqualified from the tournament for playing too many non-EU players in a 2001 tie.
After the match, Benitez told the Real website that the club acted "in good faith" with regard to Cheryshev.
"Clearly, the club did not know anything," he said. "We weren't told by Villarreal or the Royal Spanish Federation (RFEF).
"We knew nothing and [after finding out], we have substituted the player to show good faith."
And Real director Emilio Butragueno told Marca: "We knew nothing of the situation.
"We had no notification from the RFEF or Villarreal. Cheryshev, who was the player of Villarreal, he had no knowledge. We will await developments."
