Juventus forward gets 4 match ban for spitting in opponents mouth

Juventus forward Douglas Costa has received a four-match ban for spitting into the mouth of opponent Sassuolo's Federico Di Francesco.

The incident occurred in Juventus last game Italian Serie A game which ended in a 2-1 win on Sunday, September 16.

Douglas Costa

Despite leading in the encounter Douglas Costa was cautioned by the centre referee for an earlier incident,

Towards the latter stages of the game, Costa was involved in a confrontation which saw him booked after he aimed a headbutt and elbowed Di Francesco.

With Cristiano Ronaldo’s first goalsputting Juventus in a comfortable position Costa did the unnecessary.

He was given an initial yellow card for his action but after a replay, he was shown his marching orders after VAR showed his spat at his opponent.

A red card was supposed to see him out of action in four games but The Italian Football Federation has added an extra game for his actions.

Juventus

He has since apologized for his actions stating that it was "totally out of his character".

Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri backed his forward but stated that he will learn from the punishment by the Italian football federation.

Allegri said, "He's apologized, he'll pay with a four-match ban and he'll show with fair play on the pitch that this was an isolated incident."

The four games Douglas Costa will miss are against Frosinone, Bologna, Napoli, and Udinese but is available for their 2018/19 UEFA Champions League opener against Valencia.