Real Madrid Fines Valverde and Tchouameni EUR500,000 Each Over Training Brawl

Real Madrid has imposed a heavy financial penalty of EUR500,000 on players Federico Valverde and Aurelien Tchouameni after both were involved in an altercation during Thursday's training ahead of the clash against Barcelona on May 11 (Monday).

Notably, the incident between Valverde and Tchouameni followed another similar exchange during Wednesday's training session, escalating tensions within the squad.

The severity of the altercation was such that Federico Valverde was diagnosed with a cranioencephalic trauma and ended up being hospitalised, needing to rest for 10 to 14 days, as confirmed by the statement by the Spanish club yesterday.

Today, the club announced that both players have been imposed with a penalty of EUR500,000.

In a statement, Real Madrid said that Valverde and Tchouameni appeared before the appointed investigator after disciplinary proceedings were opened over recent incidents.

During the hearing, both players reportedly expressed full remorse and apologised to each other for what had happened.

Both players also apologised to the club, teammates, coaching staff, and fans, and stated that they are willing to accept any disciplinary action Real Madrid decides to impose.

Real Madrid said that the club concluded its internal disciplinary process by fining each player EUR500,000.

In an Instagram story, Federico Valverde said, "Yesterday, I had an incident with a teammate stemming from a play during training--a situation where the fatigue of competition and sheer frustration caused everything to be blown out of proportion.”

“In a normal locker room, these things happen; they get settled amongst ourselves and never see the light of day. Evidently, however, there is someone here who is quick to run and tell tales. Today, we had another run-in. During the argument, I accidentally struck a table, sustaining a small cut on my forehead that required a routine visit to the hospital," the midfielder said.

"At no point did my teammate strike me, nor did I strike him--though I understand that for you, it might be easier to believe that we beat the hell out of each other or that it was intentional,” said Valverde.

“But that simply did not happen. I regret that my anger over the situation--my frustration at seeing some of us reaching the end of the season running on fumes, giving every last ounce of ourselves--got the better of me, pushing me to the limit of arguing with a teammate,” the Real Madrid captain wrote.

“I am sorry. I am truly sorry, from the bottom of my heart, because this situation hurts me; the difficult moment we are currently going through hurts me," Valverde said further in his Instagram story post.

(With inputs from ANI)