Football: Austrian player handed 70-match ban for head-butting referee

An Austrian amateur league player has been handed an enormous 70-match ban after head-butted a referee in a fit of rage. Photo / Thinkstock.

An Austrian amateur league player has been handed an enormous 70-match ban after he head-butted a referee in a fit of rage, leaving the official on hospital with a cut lip.

Former SK Rum player Ismail Gunduz had been shown a second yellow card in the 86th minute during a match against SPG Innsbruck West, and local paper Tiroler Tageszeitung reported that Gunduz marched over to the referee before head-butting him in the face after receiving his marching orders.

Gunduz was immediately sacked by his club, but the sanction didn't end there as the Tirol Football Association handed him a 70-match suspension that will keep him out of action for any club for more than a season.

SK Rum's manager Michael Messner revealed that the club had moved swiftly to split ties between them and Gunduz, saying: "We distance ourselves from Ismail Gunduz's behaviour. He was thrown out of the club with immediate effect."

The club's sporting director Matthias Waldegger was also quoted adding that he was "delighted that the thing is off the table" and that "he is no longer allowed on our pitch".

"I hope that player will never find another club," proclaimed Waldegger.

However, Gunduz labelled the decision "madness" and insisted he will attempt to overturn the sanction as soon as possible.

"This sentence is madness," said Gunduz. "I will do all I can to return to the pitch."

He also added that he did not mean to head-butt the referee as he merely "slipped" on his way off the pitch.

-THE INDEDENDENT