Player in choking incident gets 27-game ban

Published Jul. 21, 2010 12:41 p.m. ET

foxsports

Paraguay footballer Jose Pedroso has been handed a 27-game ban for attempting to choke a referee during a Chilean second-division match at the weekend.

The governing body of Chile's professional league handed down the penalty late Tuesday. It said the defender was banned 20 games for attempting to choke referee Marcelo Miranda, five more for trying a second time to attack Miranda, and two more for the red card Pedroso received just moments before the incident.

Pedroso resigned from the Rangers club after the match on Saturday and said he was returning to Paraguay. Concepcion defeated Rangers 3-0 in the match.

''The player must comply with this if he is playing in Chile and, if not, the Chilean federation will pass on notice of the ban to any other federation where the player might play,'' federation spokesman Angel Botto said.

The incident involving Pedroso and Miranda was posted on YouTube. It took place shortly after Miranda allowed Concepcion to take a penalty kick four times, waving off attempts because of infractions. Concepcion converted the first, missed the next two and converted the fourth.

Pedroso charged at Miranda later in the match after the referee showed him a second yellow card for a violent tackle. As Miranda approached to show the card, Pedroso slipped behind him and grabbed the referee around the neck. After releasing him, he chased after Miranda and was wrestled to the ground by teammates.

''I'm not the least bit sorry,'' Pedroso was quoted saying in the Chilean newspaper La Tercera.

Miranda did not file charges.