The English Football Association has slapped a six-match ban on Manchester United defender Jonny Evans and a seven-match ban on Newcastle United striker Papiss Cisse.
The punishment comes about through an incident in the midweek Premier League match between Newcastle and Manchester United at St. James' Park, which saw both players spit at each other.
Evans was quick to deny the FA charge, however Cisse accepted spitting at the Northern Irishman. After the match, both Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal and Newcastle boss John Carver said they had not seen the incident in question.
The FA has come down hard on the pair, who will serve six and seven game suspensions with immediate effect. For Evans, that means missing Manchester United's games against Arsenal, Tottenham, Liverpool, Aston Villa, Manchester City and Chelsea. Cisse meanwhile will miss games against Everton, Arsenal, Sunderland, Liverpool, Tottenham, Swansea and Leicester.
Announcing their decision, the FA said in a statement: "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.
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"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."
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