The West Ham defender Arthur Masuaku has been banned for six games by the Football Association for spitting at the Wigan midfielder Nick Powell.
The Hammers left-back apologised after being sent off during Saturday’s 2-0 FA Cup defeat to the League One side on Saturday.
The FA’s website published an updated suspension list on Monday with Masuaku scheduled to be out of action until 10 March. He will therefore miss Tuesday’s Premier League game against Crystal Palace, then fixtures versus Brighton, Watford, Liverpool, Swansea and Burnley.
The West Ham manager, David Moyes, offered no excuses for Masuaku’s conduct, calling the spit “despicable” and suggesting that the club would offer their own punishment, in addition to the FA suspension.
Masuaku apologised via a statement on the West Ham official website on Sunday.
“I want to say sorry for my actions on Saturday,” he said. “I let down my team-mates, the manager, coaches, board and the fans.
“I am very sad because the manager and coaches have put a lot of faith in me but I will work very hard to try and win that back. It was in the heat of the moment and out of character for me. I know it was totally unacceptable and I will learn from the first red card of my career.”
Masuaku’s suspension only adds to West Ham’s personnel crisis. Pedro Obiang suffered a knee injury during the game against Wigan, a game for which Moyes was already without nine first-team players.
Reece Oxford, who could have returned to Borussia Mönchengladbach on loan, may now be retained as the club look for reinforcements in the last few days of the January transfer window.
