LONDON, March 7- Manchester United defender Jonny Evans and Newcastle United striker Papiss Cisse have been handed lengthy bans after being found guilty of spitting.
Evans and Cisse were involved in an altercation during Wednesday’s clash at St James’ Park, although the match referee did not see the incident.
However, it was captured by television cameras and the unsavoury scenes involving the two players in question was widely condemned in the aftermath of the fixture.
Cisse admitted his guilt and accepted any forthcoming suspension but Evans maintained his innocence, claiming that he had not spat at Cisse.
Be that as it may, both players have been banned by the Football Association, following a hearing with the independent regulatory commission on Friday.
A statement from the Football Association read:
‘Newcastle United’s Papiss Cisse and Manchester United’s Jonny Evans will serve suspensions of seven-matches and six-matches respectively with immediate effect.
‘This follows the Premier League game on Wednesday 4 March 2015.
‘Both players were charged in relation to an alleged breach of FA Rule E1[a] in that in or around the 38th minute of the fixture they spat at each other.
‘Mr Cisse accepted the charge and his suspension consists of six matches, which is the standard penalty for this offence, with an additional one match as he has previously accepted a violent conduct charge this season.
‘Mr Evans denied the charge but it was found proven following an Independent Regulatory Commission hearing on Friday [6 March], resulting in a six-match suspension.
‘The incidents were not seen by the match officials but caught on video.’