Patrick Vieira was today fined £25,000 and given a two-match ban by the Football Association after being found guilty of using insulting language towards referee Andy D'Urso.
The Arsenal captain, who was cleared of using abusive language, had been charged with misconduct following his sending-off against Chelsea on September 1st.
The dismissal was the eighth of the French midfielder's career at Highbury.
Vieira will miss the north London derby at home to Tottenham on November 16th and the trip to Southampton seven days later.
A statement on the FA's website, www.thefa.com, read: "The FA disciplinary commission found today that the charge of misconduct against Patrick Vieira, in that he used insulting words to the referee Andy D'Urso after being sent off in the fixture between Arsenal and Chelsea on September 1st, 2002, was proved.
"However, the charge against Vieira, in that he used abusive words to the referee in the same fixture, was not proved.
"The FA disciplinary commission imposed a two-match suspension and a fine of £25,000 upon Mr Vieira."
It is not the first time Vieira has been banned by the FA. He was suspended for six matches in October 1999 after spitting at West Ham defender Neil Ruddock and confronting a police officer and was twice found guilty of misconduct in 1998.
In February 2001 he was again punished by the FA after clashing with Leeds midfielders Eirik Bakke and Olivier Dacourt, but was cleared of another misconduct charge in March this year after he was accused of elbowing Chelsea striker Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink.