- Milutin Osmajic bit Owen Beck during Preston’s 0-0 draw against Blackburn
- Osmajic did not receive a red card, but is now suspended for eight games
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Preston striker Milutin Osmajic has been handed an eight-match ban following his bite on Blackburn’s Owen Beck during last month’s 0-0 draw at Deepdale.
Montenegro international Osmajic left teeth marks on the shoulder of Rovers defender Owen Beck but escaped a red card as referee Matt Donohue failed to see the biting take place.
Donohue sent Beck, who had kicked out to Duane Holmes moments earlier, off the field.
Beck was handed a three-match ban for his violent behavior and has already missed Blackburn’s games against QPR and Coventry.
On Friday, Osmajic was also found guilty of violent behavior by the Football Association. His suspension is significantly longer than Beck’s due to the severity of the offense.
Milutin Osmajic (second from left) photographed biting Owen Beck (left) during a match last month
Beck complained to referee Matt Donohue, who sent him off the field and gave Osmajic a yellow card
Liverpool loanee Beck was dismissed for violent conduct after kicking another player
A statement from the FA on Friday morning said: ‘Preston North End’s Milutin Osmajic has been handed an eight-match ban and a £15,000 fine for misconduct during their match against Blackburn Rovers in the EFL Championship on Sunday 22 September.
‘The attacker admitted to committing violent conduct by biting an opponent around the 87th minute. An independent regulatory commission imposed its sanctions after a hearing. The written reasons will be published in due course.”
Osmajic’s suspension takes effect immediately. However, he has played two games since snapping Beck, including Wednesday’s 3-0 win over Watford in which he scored two goals.
Left back Beck was sent off after taking a swipe at Holmes in the aftermath of Yuki Ohashi’s foul on Osmajic.
Osmajic then stood up, grabbed Beck and pushed him away with his head pressed into the Reds loanee’s neck.
Blackburn boss John Eustace said in his post-match press conference that Beck ‘had a large bite mark on his neck’. He showed all the boys. He’s a little quiet, a little shocked.”
Beck later took to social media and uploaded a photo of a bite mark alongside the caption: ‘Scruffy b*******’.
During the ill-tempered match, Preston’s Sam Greenwood was earlier sent off for a lunge at Rovers’ Lewis Baker.
Beck shared a photo of a bite mark just below his neck and captioned it: ‘Scruffy b*******’
Osmajic was seen applauding fans at Deepdale after last month’s match, which ended 0-0
Beck has made three appearances for Blackburn so far since joining on loan from Liverpool
Osmajic is not the first footballer to be given a long-term ban by the FA for biting.
Luis Suarez was handed a 10-match ban after biting Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic in 2013, while playing for Liverpool.
Uruguayan Suarez – who also bit Otman Bakkal in 2010 while playing for Ajax in the Netherlands – committed another offense at the 2014 World Cup when he famously sunk his teeth into the shoulder of Italian Giorgio Chiellini.
Beck joined Preston from Liverpool on a season-long loan in August.
He has been with Liverpool since 2015 and previously had loan spells at Famalicao, Bolton and Dundee.
