Friday 26 June 2015 08:42, UK
Clint Dempsey has been banned from the US Open Cup for at least two years after he was sent off for ripping up a referee's notebook last week.
The US international striker was handed a three-game ban by the MLS for the incident which occurred between Dempsey’s Seattle Sounders and the Portland Timbers on June 16.
However, the US Open Cup organisers, which only has jurisdiction over their own matches, has now issued a ban of six matches or the next two tournaments, whichever is more, and fined the 32-year-old an undisclosed sum.
The former Fulham and Tottenham forward, who waived his right to appeal the decision before the hearing, lost his cool after the Sounders' Michael Azira was sent off, leaving Seattle with eight players.
He took referee Daniel Radford's notebook and threw it to the ground, earning a yellow card for dissent. Dempsey then tore up the notbeook, drawing a straight red card for abuse.
Since MLS clubs enter the U.S. Open Cup in the later rounds, Dempsey could miss more than two years of the competition.
"Due to the suspension, Dempsey cannot play in any U.S. Open Cup matches in 2016 or 2017, and possibly longer depending on the number of tournament games in which Dempsey's team participates in those years," said the United States Soccer Federation in a statement.
The Sounders are the reigning US Open Cup champions and have appeared in five of the last six U.S. Open Cup finals, winning also in 2009, 2010 and 2011.
