West Ham forward Mohammed Kudus is facing a lengthy spell out of action after seeing his ban for a red card against Tottenham extended to five matches.
The 24-year-old was initially shown a yellow card after a meltdown against Spurs last month, which saw him kick Micky van de Ven while he was on the ground, then shove bot the Dutchman and Pape Sarr in the face and raise his hands to Brennan Johnson.
It was remarkable that he wasn’t initially shown a red card but VAR stepped in and he was sent-off, with the Hammers going on to lose the game 4-1.
Kudus has already sat out of the win over Manchester United and the defeat to Nottingham Forest as a result, but now faces another three games out.
He was initially banned for three games, but the Football Association have decided to extend his ban to five matches and hit him with a £60,000 fine.
That will keep the Ghana international out for the rest of the month, with Kudus suspended for home matches against Everton and Arsenal and a trip to Newcastle.
He will be able to return at Leicester City on 3 December.
A statment from the FA read: ‘West Ham United and Mohammed Kudus have been sanctioned in relation to incidents during their Premier League fixture against Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday 19 October.
‘It was alleged that the club failed to ensure their players didn’t behave in an improper and/or provocative and/or violent way around the 82nd minute. West Ham United admitted to this charge, and an independent Regulatory Commission subsequently fined the club £30,000.
‘It was also alleged that Mohammed Kudus acted in an improper manner and/or used violent conduct after the offence that he was sent off for. The forward admitted to this charge, and he has been given a two-match suspension and £60,000 fine by the Regulatory Commission.’
It is more bad news for West Ham manager Julen Lopetegui, after the loss at Forest left the Hammers 14th in the Premier League table.
‘Hopefully we can get everybody back together and regroup, he said after the 3-0 loss at the City Ground. ‘I think that we need to have this kind of environment against Everton at home. It’s going to be hard but for sure it’s going to be important for us.
‘We have to be ready to prepare for this match this week and to think that there are a lot of points in front of us. But if we want to achieve good things we have to compete better. We have to be more consistent.
‘It’s not about winning against Manchester United. It’s about being able to compete always.’
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