Patrick Vieira is poised to miss Arsenal's derby at home to Tottenham next month after being banned for two matches by the English FA yesterday for insulting the referee Andy D'Urso at Chelsea.
Vieira was also fined £25,000 by an FA disciplinary commission, which found him guilty of misconduct for his behaviour towards D'Urso after he was sent off at Stamford Bridge in early September.
The Arsenal captain was found not guilty of a more serious charge of abusing the Essex official, but Arsene Wenger said last night that he was "very disappointed" by the verdict and would consider an appeal "over the next couple of days".
Should the verdict go unchallenged, Vieira will miss a Premiership game at Southampton on November 23rd as well as the north London derby against Spurs at Highbury a week earlier.
But Wenger knows that if Arsenal appeal unsuccessfully they would merely delay the start of the punishment, and that could mean losing Vieira for the vital trip to Manchester United on December 7th.
Vieira's punishment was announced after a hearing at the FA's Soho Square headquarters which lasted more than fourhours. It compounded a bad week for Arsenal in which they have lost twice - to Everton in the Premiership and at home to Auxerre in the Champions League - after going unbeaten for more than seven months.
D'Urso wrote in his match report from the Chelsea match that Vieira had called him a "f****** wanker with no personality" after being shown the eighth red card of his six-year Highbury career.
It is understood that the four-man FA commission, Barry Bright, John Davey, Peter Heard and Alan Turvey, concluded that Vieira had not necessarily sworn at the official but found him guilty of insulting D'Urso by suggesting he had no personality.
D'Urso, who left without comment, came to give evidence. Arsenal's defence was presented by Mark Phillips QC, with the club's Nigerian striker Nwankwo Kanu attending to speak on behalf of Vieira, who was also present. Arsenal used additional written evidence from a lip-reading expert who had studied a video of the incident.
Vieira looked upset as he left without comment. He has now been found guilty of misconduct six times by the FA and fined a total of more than £100,000.
This added to misdemeanours which include spitting at Neil Ruddock during a game at West Ham, kicking the Leeds United midfielder Olivier Dacourt, gesturing to fans at Sheffield Wednesday and confronting a police officer at Upton Park.
Players were warned before the season that officials would clamp down on wilful abuse, so Vieira can hardly be shocked to find himself in trouble. He reacted because he felt particularly hard done by when dismissed by D'Urso for the second of what he felt were two harsh yellow cards. Having been booked for a tackle on Gianfranco Zola, he was sent off after fouling Jesper Gronkjaer.
