Mallorca strips Dani Rodríguez of his captaincy and suspends him from employment and salary following his complaints about not playing at the Bernabéu.

Dani Rodríguez 's complaints about not playing last Saturday at the Bernabéu against Real Madrid have cost him dearly.

RCD Mallorca has acted swiftly and expeditiously following the two messages posted by the player, which have been met with a bombshell in the club's locker room and the main floor. It has announced that it is stripping him of his captaincy with immediate effect and suspending him from employment and pay for ten days.

The club made this decision, the toughest allowed by the AFE, after the experienced 37-year-old player made public his displeasure at not having played a single minute at the Santiago Bernabéu.

He did so twice: once after the match and, in a supposed attempt to qualify what he had said, in a second message posted on his social media in which he not only failed to correct his statements, but actually aggravated them, directly pointing the finger at newly arrived teammate Jan Virgili.

His criticism of coach Jagoba Arrasate's decision has caused a stir at a club that had a chance of reaching the European spots last year. Especially coming from Rodríguez, one of the most veteran players and until now a key figure for the home fans.

The footballer, who has been with the island team since 2018, published two posts on Instagram in which he openly criticized the manager's decision in his team's match last Saturday against Real Madrid (2-1 in favor of the Madrid club).

"It pains me that a player who has just arrived, with just one training session, has the opportunity to play ahead of teammates who have spent years defending this shirt with sweat and dedication," he said in his second post, referring to Virgili, a young FC Barcelona youth player signed to fill the gap in the Mallorcan squad for the lack of attacking wingers.

"Something like this sending a terrible message to the locker room : loyalty, hard work, or dedication don't matter," the former captain added in an attempt to apologize to the fans, in an episode that ended in the worst possible way.

By stripping the Galician player of his captaincy and suspending his employment and salary, the club is sending a strong message to the squad following the events, as announced by the club's directors on Tuesday. "We have to take measures," said director of football Pablo Ortells in a press conference held on Monday and reported by the Efe news agency, hours before making this drastic decision.

The club's reaction comes amid an avalanche of criticism from the Mallorcan fan base, which has expressed its displeasure and widespread indignation in recent days at the attitude of Rodríguez, until now one of the most highly regarded players in the stands for his performance on the field.

It's the precipitous fall of an idol . A player who arrived on the island when the club was struggling in the Second Division and who, along with his teammates, has returned it to the elite, culminating in the 2024 Copa del Rey final.

Following this episode, the divorce was complete, relations with the coach were in tatters, and the board sought to act as an example, emphasizing that "the collective takes precedence over the individual." This was something the fans assumed one of their most experienced captains was clear about. This Wednesday, the player did not train with his teammates.