Preston North End forward Milutin Osmajic has been handed an eight-game suspension for biting Blackburn’s on-loan Liverpool defender Owen Beck during an EFL Championship match last month.
Osmajic, a Montenegro international, was shown a yellow card by the match referee during the game, but the English Football Association (FA) subsequently charged the 25-year-old after reviewing the incident.
Former Liverpool forward Luis Suárez was banned for ten games in 2013 for biting Chelsea’s Branislav Ivanovic in a game at Anfield, but Osmajic has been banned for eight games and fined £15,000 ($20,000) after admitting the charge.
An FA statement said: “Preston North End’s Milutin Osmajic has been given an eight-match suspension and £15,000 fine for misconduct during their match against Blackburn Rovers in the EFL Championship on Sunday 22 September.
“The forward admitted that he committed an act of violent conduct around the 87th minute by biting an opponent.
“An independent Regulatory Commission imposed his sanctions following a hearing. Its written reasons will be published in due course.”
The player is now set to be punished by his club for the incident, with director Peter Ridsdale saying that the issue has been dealt with internally.
“We’ve already indicated to the player what we’re doing,” Ridsdale told Talksport.
“I want to keep that obviously in-house, but you can be assured that that’s not something that we condone as a football club and we’ve taken appropriate action.”