Australia

Melbourne City’s Dean Bouzanis handed five-game racial abuse ban

Melbourne City goalkeeper Dean Bouzanis has been banned for five games after he was found guilty of using racially abusive language by Football Federation Australia (FFA).

The 26-year-old custodian was caught on camera repeatedly calling Berisha a “f***ing gypsy” following Manny Muscat’s controversial 86th-minute own goal that gave Victory a 2-1 win.

“The committee determined that the player did commit the offence and must serve a suspension of five matches … for committing the offence of ‘use of discriminatory language and/or gestures, including racist, religious, ethnic or sexist’,” said FFA in a statement.

The former Liverpool goalie will be sidelined until next A-League away clash with Western Sydney and likely replaced by Thomas Sorensen in the interim.