Gareth Bale: Zinedine Zidane rules out golf ban for Real Madrid forward
Zidane: "I'm not going to prohibit Gareth or any player from doing anything. They are all adults and know what they have to do"
Friday 6 December 2019 19:56, UK
Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane says he will not stop Gareth Bale from playing golf in his spare time.
Bale has caused controversy in Spain for playing golf so regularly, so much so that he has been nicknamed 'the golfer' by his Real team-mates.
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Wales are set to prevent Bale from playing golf during Euro 2020 next summer, with manager Ryan Giggs insisting the players' focus must be on football and not other activities.
However, speaking at a press conference on Friday, Zidane insists he will not prevent Bale from spending time on the course.
"I'm going to give you my reply, the club might say something different," Zidane said. "I'm not going to prohibit Gareth or any player from doing anything.
"They are all adults and know what they have to do. I'm not going to say anything to a player."
Bale started his first club game since October 5 last weekend as Real won 2-1 at Alaves but will miss the home match against Espanyol on Saturday through injury.
His latest fitness concern comes after the player's agent - Jonathan Barnett - said his client is "not ecstatic" at the Bernabeu.
"The injury occurred in the Alaves match," Zidane added. "We had two-and-a-half days of rest and on the way back he suffered.
"That's why he hasn't trained with us. He did a little bit of training on Friday, but not with us."
Hazard injury 'very bad news'
Eden Hazard is set to miss Real's El Clasico clash at Barcelona on December 18 due to an ankle problem.
The 28-year-old suffered the injury in a 2-2 Champions League draw at home to Paris Saint-Germain and while describing it as "very bad news", Zidane hopes the Belgium international is not out of action for too long.
"It's very bad news because he is a player who has demonstrated in his last matches the important player he is and who has been and will be in the future in our team," Zidane said.
"In any case I like to say that it is something in general, I do not like to have injured players and especially Eden Hazard.
"He was already recovering his game and was in great shape, demonstrating his quality as he had already done in France, England and now he was doing it with the Real Madrid jersey and it's a setback. I hope it doesn't last long."
