I find that barely believable that somebody would intentionally get themselves sent off to attend a birthday party? Not once but three times!!!
It's happened twice. This year he was "injured" for a game.
First time could have been a coincidence, second time was blatant as he got carded in the dying minutes of a 5-0 win against 9 men, where no Barca players had been yellow carded.
I would be surprised if the club wasn't aware of it and endorsed it. The games he's missed have all been against small fry, and it gives him an easy opportunity to clear his yellow card count.