Florentino Perez Vows to Fight Potential Real Madrid Copa Del Rey Expulsion

Real Madrid president Florentino Perez has sworn to fight any sanction imposed on Los Blancos over Denis Cheryshev's Copa del Rey ineligibility and insisted the club can't be punished as the player was never informed of his ban.

Real are facing potential disqualification from the Copa after Russian winger Cheryshev started Wednesday's clash against Cadiz despite reportedly being ineligible due to a ban he picked up while playing for Villarreal last season, per Sky Sports' Lyall Thomas. 

Perez is adamant that Real did nothing wrong, and he has blamed the media for the club's current predicament, per the Twitter account of Spanish outlet AS:

"

What happened last night has never happened to Real Madrid before. If we didn't know, the sanction cannot stand. 

[...]

Sanctions cannot be enforced unless the player is personally notified, that's the way I understand it. 

[...]

We received nothing, no note, nothing [from the RFEF]. We'll take this to the appeals, then the Arbitration court. 

It's not a big deal because we are right.

[...]

We're in this mess for incorrect reports in the media about a sanction [for breach of RFEF regulations]. 

"

The issue only came to light midway through the first half—after Cheryshev had scored the opener in an eventual 3-1 win—and the 24-year-old was withdrawn by manager Rafael Benitez seconds after the half-time break.

The Spaniard explained his decision after the match, per football writer Dermot Corrigan:

AS provided fairly compelling evidence that Cheryshev should not have been on the field after accruing three yellow cards in the competition when on loan with the Yellow Submarine last term:

However, Perez is clearly convinced Real cannot be punished if they did not know about his ban.

Per Thomas, Cadiz have filed a written complaint to Spanish football's governing body and Real have been set a deadline to respond.

The second leg of Real and Cadiz's Copa tie is set to take place at the Bernabeu on Dec. 16, with the La Liga giants clearly the heavy favourites to advance to the last 16 should they not be disqualified.

The third-tier outfit, though, could well be the beneficiaries if Real are found to have breached regulations, as Cadiz would automatically advance upon Los Blancos' disqualification.

This is not the first time Benitez has been caught up in such a controversy in the competition.

His Valencia side were eliminated from the Copa del Rey in 2001 after he fielded too many non-EU players, per Goal's Oliver Platt.

Benitez will be desperate to avoid a similar fate in this situation as he will surely have targeted the Copa as an eminently winnable piece of silverware this season.

Perez may be confident that this is no "big deal," but Real could yet be staring at disqualification from one of Spain's most high-profile tournaments.