Preston striker Milutin Osmajic has learned his fate after biting Liverpool loanee Owen Beck during the 0-0 draw with Blackburn at the end of September.
Osmajic was caught biting Beck in the back of the neck during Sky Sports’ live coverage of the Lancashire derby at Deepdale on September 22.
The incident came after the Liverpool left-back kicked out at Duane Holmes following a foul towards the end of the game, but Preston’s No. 28 reacted wildly.
Charged by the FA shortly afterwards, Osmajic has now been banned for eight matches as well as being fined £15,000.
A statement from the FA on Friday reads: “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.”
It is a similar punishment to that imposed on Luis Suarez (10 matches) after he bit Chelsea‘s Branislav Ivanovic during the 2-2 draw with Liverpool in April 2013.
Suarez had previously been banned for seven games when at Ajax for biting PSV Eindhoven’s Otman Bakkal, while he was then banned for four months by FIFA for biting Giorgio Chiellini in a clash between Uruguay and Italy at the 2014 World Cup.
Osmajic was only shown a yellow card in the aftermath of his attack on Beck, with this being for dissent, despite the incident occurring directly in front of the linesman.
Beck is currently serving a three-match ban for his direct red card for the kick on Holmes, with the third game coming up on Saturday away to Plymouth.
The two players could face off during the October international break, with Beck’s Wales hosting Osmajic’s Montenegro in the UEFA Nations League on October 14.
