Joey Barton handed 12 match ban and £25,000 fine

Sep 5 2008

Joey Barton received a 12-match ban today from the Football Association - half of which was suspended - after being found guilty of violent conduct following his assault on Ousmane Dabo.

Barton, who was also ordered to pay a £25,000 fine by the FA, received a four-month suspended jail sentence in July for attacking Dabo on the training pitch when the pair were team-mates at Manchester City.

He becomes the latest in a line of players to be heavily punished by the FA for violent offences.

Three of the heaviest bans

DAVID PRUTTON

Former England Under-21 midfielder David Prutton was banned for 10 matches and fined £6,000 by the Football Association after admitting two charges of improper conduct while playing for Southampton in 2005. The former Nottingham Forest star - now at Leeds - was sent off for two bookable offences against Arsenal but it was shoving match official Alan Wiley as he tried to confront the assistant referee which led to his hefty punishment.

PAOLO DI CANIO

The events of September 26, 1998 - when Di Canio shoved referee Paul Alcock during Sheffield Wednesday’s home clash with Arsenal - will live long in the memory. The Italian striker had been red-carded for his part in a brawl and took issue with Alcock, pushing him in the chest and causing the referee to stumble back and fall to the ground. Some laughed but the FA found no humour in the incident. They banned Di Canio for 11 games and fined him £10,000.

ERIC CANTONA

The red mist descended on the Frenchman at Selhurst Park on January 25, 1995. After being dismissed for a kick on Crystal Palace’s Richard Shaw, Cantona headed for the dressing rooms. He took a detour, however, and dived in feet first at Palace supporter Matthew Simmons who had run down from his seat to taunt the Manchester United striker. BBC commentator Clive Tyldesley observed: "Oh that’s outrageous." The FA agreed and Cantona was banned, missing the next eight months. A two-week jail sentence was amended to a community sentence punishment.