Franck Ribery banned for three matches for pushing official

Franck Ribery

Leeds (UK): Fiorentina's Franck Ribery has been banned for three matches for pushing an official during the side's 1-2 defeat against Lazio in the Serie A competition.

Ribery was caught on camera venting his anger after the final whistle. He went on to push match official Matteo Passeri twice, before being taken back to the dressing room by his teammates.

In addition to the ban, the footballer has been fined 20,000 euros. With this ban, Ribery will be out of action until November 24 and will miss upcoming matches against Sassuolo, Parma, and Cagliari.

"At the end of the game, Ribery approached the assistant referee in a threatening way and was gravely disrespectful behaviour," Goal.com quoted Italian FA as saying.

"In addition to disrespectful comments, he pushed with an arm on his chest... as well as in a further thrust grabbing him by the arm," it added.

After the incident, the left-winger issued a public apology on his Twitter account. Fiorentina is currently placed at the ninth place in the Serie A standings with 12 points from nine matches.

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