FORMER FULHAM AND Spurs star Clint Dempsey has received a two-year ban for taking a referee’s notebook and ripping it up on the field of play during the fourth round of the US Open Cup.
The Seattle Sounders forward reacted angrily to the sending off of team-mate Michael Azira in extra-time, and then got himself sent off by taking the referee’s notebook and tearing it in half as he walked away. Seattle were losing 2-1 to the Portland Timbers at the time.
The two-year ban means that he will miss the next two US Open tournaments, but is allowed to feature in the regular MLS season.
He was also handed the mandatory three match ban for receiving a straight red, although that will expire in time for him to compete in the Concacaf Gold Cup which begins next month.
Jurgen Klinsmann has named Dempsey in his initial squad for the Gold Cup, but since the harsher ban has been put into place it has raised the pressure on Klinsmann not to select his captain.