The Spanish Football Federation’s Competition Committee must now decide how many matches to suspend the Barça captain – and the panel’s verdict will depend on which article of Spanish game’s disciplinary code they apply to the incident.
Messi In Super Cup FinalArticle 123: Messi gets two or three-match ban: "If it is article 123, which governs “violent play”, the maximum ban Messi could get would be three games. This article, which is used when punishing “violent [actions] in the course of the play or as a direct consequence of the play”, recommends a one to three-match ban – unless “the incident occurs away from the play or when play has been stopped; this will be punished with a two to three-match ban”.
The latter consideration applies to the incident between Messi and Villalibre, so it appears the 34-year-old can expect to be sidelined for two games at the very least.
Article 98: Messi gets four to 12-match ban: However, if the Competition Committee deems that Messi was guilty of assaulting Villalibre, the body can be expected to invoke article 98 of the disciplinary code, which calls for a longer suspension up to a maximum of 12 games.
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