Brown banned for three matches
Brown's guilt has been proved
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Thursday, 10, May 2007 04:47
Fulham midfielder Michael Brown has been found guilty of violent conduct and will be banned for three matches.
The 30-year-old denied the charge after the Football Association summoned him for a disciplinary hearing following an incident in the Premiership fixture against Liverpool on May 5th.
Television replays appeared to show Brown motion his head towards Reds midfielder Xabi Alonso during the match, which the struggling west London outfit won 1-0.
However several pundits had expressed reservations about Brown's guilt in the incident, as it seemed the Spaniard made the first move towards the Fulham player and he simply reacted to it.
Nevertheless, he will now serve a three-game suspension starting with Sunday's final fixture of the season against Middlesbrough at the Riverside Stadium. He will also miss the first two games of the 2007/08 Premiership schedule.
The FA this afternoon also confirmed Manchester City defender Michael Ball's three-match ban for stamping on Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo during the derby match at the weekend.
Ball, who admitted the charge of violent conduct, was called "thuggish" and "cowardly" by Sky's football pundit Jamie Redknapp for his actions against the Portuguese winger.
The 27-year-old will also sit out his side's final game of this season - a trip to play Tottenham at White Hart Lane - along with the first two games of next term.