(Reuters) – West Ham United winger Mohammed Kudus’s ban has been extended to five matches and he has been fined 60,000 pounds ($77,286) for violent conduct in last month’s Premier League defeat at Tottenham Hotspur, the FA said on Wednesday.
Kudus was already serving an automatic three-match ban after receiving a red card against Spurs, which ruled him out of the Hammers’ 2-1 home win over Manchester United and their 3-0 loss at Nottingham Forest, as well as Saturday’s home match against Everton.
He was found guilty of violent conduct by an independent Regulatory Commission and will now also miss their league matches against Newcastle United on Nov. 25 and Arsenal on Nov. 30.
Kudus sparked a heated altercation between players in the 82nd minute of West Ham’s 4-1 defeat at Tottenham on Oct. 19 when he fouled Spurs defender Micky van de Ven. Kudus first pushed Van de Ven in the face before doing the same to Pape Matar Sarr.
Referee Andy Madley upgraded Kudus’s initial yellow card to a red after VAR check, citing violent conduct, which triggered an automatic three-match suspension.
In its written reasons, the independent regulatory commission said the 24-year-old Ghana international had apologised to the panel and said he was “deeply embarrassed” by his actions.
West Ham were also fined 30,000 pounds for failing to ensure their players did not behave in a provocative and/or violent manner. The London club admitted to the charge. Spurs were fined 20,000 pounds in October, in relation to the same incident.
“Whilst the Club is disappointed with the outcome, it respects the process that has been undertaken,” West Ham said in a statement.
($1 = 0.7763 pounds)
(Reporting by Shifa Jahan in Bengaluru; Editing by Toby Davis)
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