The Football Association should "chuck the book" at Paolo Di Canio, the sports minister Tony Banks said yesterday.
Banks called for a severe punishment to be meted out to the Sheffield Wednesday striker, who as expected was charged with misconduct by the FA for pushing the referee Paul Alcock to the ground.
"This was an incident too far," Banks said. "All of us involved in football, whether as supporters or players, have shouted at the referee as passions run high.
"But you cannot assault the referee. There has to be a limit; the referee stands between us and chaos and this was totally unacceptable.
"This is a matter for the FA and I think they should chuck the book at him. This is so serious that an example has to be made of the player. To say that the referee took a dive is just compounding what he has done."
David Pleat, who brought Di Canio to Sheffield Wednesday from Celtic for #4.5 million in the summer of 1997, said he believed the incident would end the Italian's stay at Hillsborough.
"I think it is a sad conclusion to a career because he is a sparkling player who added flair and panache to Hillsborough," said Tottenham's acting manager.
"But he was not an easy player to manage because he played his own game. I don't think there's any doubt Sheffield Wednesday will sell him."
