Craig Bellamy was banned for three games with immediate effect on Tuesday after accepting a Football Association charge of violent conduct.
The charge arose out of the Cardiff forward’s clash with Swansea midfielder Jonathan de Guzman in last weekend’s south Wales derby.
As the former Wales striker, who had until 1800GMT Tuesday to respond, has accepted the charge, he will receive a three-game ban ruling him out of Tuesday’s Premier League game against Aston Villa, the FA Cup tie with Wigan and a further league match against Hull.
Bellamy appeared to catch de Guzman with his arm during the second half of Swansea’s 3-0 victory at their Liberty Stadium ground on Saturday.
The incident was not seen by referee Andre Marriner and his linesmen but, under a new disciplinary procedure, a three-man panel of former referees reviewed the incident and, following their unanimous agreement, the FA charged Bellamy on Monday.
A brief FA statement issued Tuesday said: “Cardiff City’s Craig Bellamy will serve a three-match suspension with immediate effect after he accepted an FA charge of violent conduct.
“Bellamy was charged following an incident which occurred during Cardiff’s game against Swansea City on Saturday (8 February 2014). The incident was not seen by the match officials but caught on video.”
Prior to the FA charging Bellamy, Cardiff manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said there was no need for any action to be taken against his player.
“For me it was absolutely nothing. If that was me going down like that, my Dad would have had something to say,” the former Manchester United and Norway striker said.
However, Swansea coach Garry Monk insisted after the match: “I don’t think Jonathan made too much of it. He took a blow to the back of the head. I think it’s off the mark to say he made a meal out of it.”
Saturday’s defeat left Cardiff second bottom in the Premier League ahead of the Villa match, with Swansea – who recently sacked manager Michael Laudrup – in 10th place.
Source: Supersport
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