Footballer cops 50-year ban

Berne - A Swiss amateur footballer has been handed a 50-year ban from the sport for kicking the ball at a referee and insulting him in a fourth-tier match, local media reported on Saturday.

Ricardo Ferreira, of Berne's Portugal Futebol Clube, received a lifetime ban after he kicked the ball at the official, sprayed him with water and verbally abused him at the end of a game during which he was an unused substitute.

The 28-year-old was banned indefinitely but, as the governing body's system requires an end-date for a suspension, officials entered 2064.

The reason for his long suspension is the player's disciplinary past, with several previous substantial bans for misbehaving.

"I am known to the referees and the federation and I expected one or two years. But 50? Football is my life," he told Blick magazine.