ALEXSANDAR MITROVIC has been banned for EIGHT matches following his furious Old Trafford meltdown.
The Fulham striker shoved and reacted angrily at referee Chris Kavanagh when he awarded a penalty and sent off team-mate Willian in the FA Cup quarter-final defeat.
Kavanagh showed the red card – prompting an automatic three-game ban.
But now the FA have slapped him with an extra five matches and a £75,000 fine.
Manager Marco Silva, also red carded in the flashpoint, got a two-game touchline ban and £40,000 fine for his behaviour and comments.
Mitrovic served the first of those eight in Saturday’s 2-1 defeat at Bournemouth.
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He will now miss Fulham’s next seven matches before returning for May’s trip to Southampton.
The Serb is also available for the London derby at home to Crystal Palace and the away day back to the scene of the crime, Old Trafford, for the final game of the season.
The FA said: “We claimed the standard punishment which would otherwise apply to Aleksandar Mitrovic for the sending-off offence of violent conduct that he committed towards the match referee around the 72nd minute was clearly insufficient.
“The forward denied this, but it was upheld by the Regulatory Commission, and a three-match ban was imposed.
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“This is in addition to the three-match ban he had already received for the red card offence.
“The forward separately admitted that his behaviour and language after being sent off was improper, abusive, insulting and threatening, and the Regulatory Commission imposed an additional two-match ban and £75,000 fine.
“In total, the Regulatory Commission has suspended Aleksandar Mitrović for eight matches. One of these has already been served, and therefore the forward will be unavailable for Fulham FC’s next seven matches.”
The eight-match ban is similar to the punishments dished out to David Prutton and Paolo Di Canio.
Prutton got ten games in 2005 for pushing Alan Wiley after his red card while Di Canio missed 11 matches for shoving ref Paul Alcock to the ground.
The longest bans in Premier League history were the nine-month suspensions for Eric Cantona’s kung-fu kick and Mark Bosnich for taking cocaine.
Biggest Premier League bans
Mark Bosnich – 9 months
Australian goalkeeper Bosnich was sacked by Chelsea after being found guilty of taking cocaine
Eric Cantona – 9 months
Cantona jumped into the crowd to kung-fu kick a Crystal Palace fan and also got 120 hours of community service
Rio Ferdinand – 8 months
Ferdinand got a big ban in 2003 after missing a drugs test and claimed he was out shopping
Adrian Mutu – 7 months
Mutu’s Chelsea spell was cut short after testing positive for cocaine
Kolo Toure – 6 months
Tour got the ban after being found with performance-enhancing substances – but it was overturned as the FA believed it was taken unknowingly
Paolo Di Canio – 11 games
Di Canio sent referee Paul Alcock tumbling to the turf amid a row between Sheffield Wednesday and Arsenal
David Prutton – 10 games
Prutton also pushed a ref, Alan Wiley, during a game with Arsenal – and got a £6,000 fine too
Aleksandar Mitrovic – 8 games
Mitrovic shoved ref Chris Kavanagh in a furious reaction to red cards for Willian and Marco Silva after awarding a penalty
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
