Professional footballer gets eight-match ban and £15,000 fine for biting opponent
by Will Conroy · LBCBy Will Conroy
The professional footballer who bit an opposition player has been banned for eight games by the Football Association.
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Preston North End striker Milutin Osmajic has also been fined £15,000 for the offence on Blackburn's Owen Beck.
The 25-year-old Montenegro international admitted the charge of violent conduct and will be unavailable until late November.
The incident followed Beck's sending off in the closing stages of September's goalless Lancashire derby in the Championship for kicking out at Preston's Duane Holmes.
Blackburn boss John Eustace said in his post-match news conference at the time: "[Beck's] got a big bite mark on the back of his neck.
"He's shown all the lads. He's a little bit quiet, a little bit shook up."
The two players could face each other again this month as Osmajic has been named in the Montenegro squad to take on Wales in a Nations League tie on 14 October.
The FA said they will publish written reasons for the suspension "in due course", with Preston adding that they will make no further statement until then.
Prior to Osmajic being handed the ban, Preston director Peter Risdale told Talksport that the forward "had accepted" the charge and would also face an internal disciplinary process.
"We've already indicated to the player what we're doing," said Ridsdale.
"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."
Osmajic will now be unavailable for selection until Preston's home Championship game against Derby on Saturday, 23 November.
Luis Suarez, then of Liverpool, received a 10-match ban in 2013 for biting Chelsea's Branislav Ivanovic in the Premier League.
Just over a year later, he overshadowed his Uruguay team’s 2014 World Cup victory over Italy when he bit defender Giorgio Chiellini.