Melbourne Victory striker Ney Fabiano has been slapped with a nine-match suspension by the independent Disciplinary Committee on Wednesday night.
Fabiano was sent off for spitting at Adelaide’s Robert Cornthwaite in Melbourne’s 1-0 victory at Telstra Dome on Friday night.
Referee Matthew Breeze had no hesitation in sending the Brazilian off in the 29th minute of the match for an R3 offence.
Melbourne Victory unsuccessfully appealed the red card, before the incident was directed straight to FFA’s Match Review Panel.
The Committee found that the offence of spitting at a player was established and has imposed a sanction of eight matches over and above the mandatory match suspension, giving a total sanction of nine matches.
It is a major blow for Fabiano, who had made a promising start to his A-League career scoring in the side’s 4-2 victory over the Wellington Phoenix in Round 2.
The Victory will be without their striker until the Round 14 clash with Perth Glory on December 6.
