Fiorentina’s Franck Ribery has been banned for three matches and fined 20,000 euros (£17,257) after pushing an assistant referee following his side’s 2-1 defeat by Lazio.
The 36-year-old, who had been substituted in the 74th minute, remonstrated with officials at the final whistle.
He was restrained by team-mates before being shown a red card.
Ribery, who joined the Serie A club in the summer, apologised for his actions.
A Serie A disciplinary tribunal described Ribery’s conduct as “seriously disrespectful”, saying the midfielder approached the official with “threatening behaviour” and pushed him twice.
After the incident, ex-Bayern Munich winger Ribery tweeted: “I apologise to my team-mates, to the coach, to the fans.
“I apologise also to (the assistant referee) Mr Passeri because at the end of the game I was very upset and I hope he can understand what was my mood.”
Fiorentina claimed the move which led to Lazio’s winner, scored by Ciro Immobile, began with a foul by Jordan Lukaku on their winger Riccardo Sotil.
The club wanted to know why referee Marco Guida did not review the incident on the pitchside monitor and chose only to consult VAR officials.
“Why didn’t he go and have a look?” asked Fiorentina coach Vincenzo Montella.
“It’s very serious if the referee does not have a look in a key episode.
“We all stood around for four minutes waiting for the VAR to say if he should see it or not. If he’d only gone and looked at it, it would’ve been a minute or two longer, but at least we’d all be sure.”
