Austria striker Marko Arnautovic is in hot-water with Werder Bremen after being banned from the German league for the rest of the month after stepping on an opponent's ankle.
The 22-year-old was shown a straight red in Hanover's 3-2 win over Bremen last Sunday when he stepped on the ankle of Hanover midfielder Sergio Pinto and the German Football Federation (DFB) have given the Austrian a three-match ban.
With his team second in the Bundesliga behind leaders Bayern, Arnautovic will now miss the league games against defending champions Borussia Dortmund, Augsburg and Mainz - effectively ruling him out for the rest of the month.
The former Inter Milan striker looks set to lose his place to Sweden's Markus Rosenberg, and is also in danger of also being fined by Bremen.
The Austrian was disciplined several times last season by Bremen for poor performances and a late-night trip to a nightclub, against team protocol.
"I will look at this with the coach (Thomas Schaaf)," Bremen's director of sport Klaus Allofs told German daily Bild.
"Whether it's a fine, we have not decided yet."
Arnautovic is currently with the Austria squad for Euro 2012 qualifiers against Azerbaijan, on Friday, and Kazakhstan, next Tuesday.
Source: AFP
