Cristiano Ronaldo Potentially Facing La Liga Sanction over Clasico Celebration

Cristiano Ronaldo brought out his famous "calm down" celebration when he scored for Real Madrid against Barcelona on Sunday night, a gesture which looks likely to land him in trouble with La Liga officials.

The Portuguese international repeated his actions from 2012's match at the Camp Nou, where he appeared to tell the Barca supporters to simmer down with hand gestures toward the stands. However, LFP president Javier Tebas suggests players must be responsible for their actions and not incite an angry response from opposing fans.

"We have to be careful with provocative gestures by a player when he scores a goal or with any other provocation or conduct that could incite violence among spectators," said Tebas, as reported by Iain Rogers of Reuters (h/t Daily Mail). "It must be sanctioned, from a fine up to a suspension. We will look into it."

AS highlighted the incident:

Despite Ronaldo's equaliser—scored after an excellent backheel from Karim Benzema—Madrid went on to lose the match 2-1. Goals from Jeremy Mathieu and Luis Suarez were enough to claim the three points, providing Barca with a four-point lead atop La Liga's table.

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Ronaldo scored with half an hour on the clock after being hounded by Barca fans every time he received the ball. His celebration could be seen as a response to the jeers, but as noted in Rogers' report, players must lead the way when it comes to reactions to ridicule from the stands.

Spanish football authorities are working avidly to clean up the nation's game after the death of a Deportivo La Coruna supporter outside Atletico Madrid's Vicente Calderon in November, per The Guardian. Eleven other people and "100 troublemakers" were identified in the "violent fight" which led to this, according to the aforementioned article.

From lowering the rate of such incidents to investigating potential match-fixing and players' alleged tax evasion, work is being done to lift the reputation of the Spanish game. Violence remains top of the list, however.

"They say La Liga is the best in the world, but for that to be so, we have to be a secure league, that has silenced the cries of intolerance and violence within football," said Tebas at a security seminar, as reported by Mundo Deportivo (h/t ESPN FC).

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Celebrations such as Ronaldo's can be considered gamesmanship, but Tebas' comments suggest if it's likely to frustrate any onlooker, it should be eliminated.

Rogers' report notes Ronaldo's previous celebration against Atletico in last season's Champions League final—when he ripped his shirt off and flexed his muscles in front of the Lisbon crowd—as another example of a perhaps overzealous reaction from the player. He is capable of easily winding rival fans up, partly due to his quality and partly due to the types of incidents mentioned above.

Madrid certainly won't want to lose him along the final stretch of the season, particularly now there's a four-point gap to close. Ronaldo remains Carlo Ancelotti's most important player, the man who can secure victory at any moment.

Without him, the title is all but finished.