Andre Villas Boas hit with eight match ban after making bribe gesture to referee
Former Chelsea boss accused official of taking a bung after his Shanghai SIPG side were denied a penalty in Chinese Super League clash with Beijing Guoan
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ANDRE VILLAS BOAS has been hit with an eight match ban after accusing a referee of taking a bung.
Former Chelsea boss Villas Boas landed himself in hot water when he aimed a bribe gesture at official Shi Szhenlu in a Chinese Super League match.
Portuguese boss Villas Boas was left fuming after his Shanghai SIPG side were denied a penalty by Zhenlu in their 1-0 win over Beijing Guoan.
Joined by his coaching staff he stormed towards the official and rubbed his fingers together simulating counting money - a gesture widely understood in China to imply someone has been bribed.
Bosses as the Chinese Football Confederation were fuming at the actions of the former Tottenham coach.
And they decided to send out a strong message with the punishment of an eight game touchline ban that will see him unable to sit in the dugout for the remainder of the season.
A statement said: “Shanghai SIPG head coach Villas-Boas has verbally abused the match official and aimed offensive gesture at him.
“His conduct has severely influenced society in a negative fashion.”
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Villas Boas has had a history of run-ins with authority since he moved to Shanghai 11 months ago.
This latest suspensions is the third time he has been given a touchline ban in less than a year with the club.
And earlier this month Villas Boas also decided to take on officials at the Asian Football Confederation, accusing them of being under the control of Guangzhou Evergrande.
The AFC have yet to make a decision whether to discipline him for that outburst, but earlier this week they did hit AVB with a £10,000 fine for abusing officials in a game between the two sides.