Thatcher hit hard by FA and club

English FA Premiership News: Ben Thatcher has been suspended by Manchester City and charged with serious foul play by the Football Association in England as the full horror of his challenge on Pedro Mendes begins to sink in.

The former Welsh international met manager Stuart Pearce at City's training ground yesterday morning and was told he would not feature against Arsenal this evening as a direct result of his elbows-first tackle on Mendes which saw the Portsmouth player spend Wednesday night in hospital.

Thatcher is said to be in full agreement with the internal punishment, which is also likely to extend to two weeks' wages and has been ratified by City chairman John Wardle, who also met with Pearce yesterday morning.

"Manchester City can confirm that Ben Thatcher has been suspended from first-team action pending the results of the club's internal investigation into the incident involving Pedro Mendes during the game with Portsmouth on Wednesday," said a City statement. "The player will miss tomorrow's home fixture with Arsenal. Ben Thatcher fully agrees with this decision."

City officials have been embarrassed at the negative publicity Thatcher's disgraceful lunge has brought to the club. Portsmouth boss Harry Redknapp has called for the 30-year-old to be kicked out of the game completely should he ever do anything like that again.

And, though referee Dermot Gallagher inexplicably failed to send Thatcher off, the FA have now stepped in with a charge of serious foul play. The 30-year-old has been given until September 12th to respond. However, with Pearce describing the incident as "indefensible", it is difficult to see what plausible plea Thatcher could make.

And, having stated their belief a red card would have warranted "an additional sanction", the FA have raised the obvious possibility of Thatcher receiving a ban equal to the six matches meted out to Lee Bowyer for his infamous scrap with Newcastle team-mate Kieron Dyer last season.

"The incident is being considered as an exceptional case because the FA contends that the challenge was sufficiently serious that had Thatcher been sent off, an additional sanction would have been merited," said a statement released by the FA.

Pearce, whose own game was based on aggression, could come up with no justification for the tackle.

"People will say I played to the limit of the rules," said Pearce. "Ben's game is also based on aggression. But every now and then a red mist appears and he steps over the mark, which is totally unacceptable. The more I have seen the challenge on Wednesday, the worse it gets. It was an awful challenge, completely indefensible."

Pearce has pleaded with Greater Manchester Police not to mount their own investigation, which they have threatened to do after receiving a number of complaints from outraged City supporters. "Anything that happens on a football pitch should be governed by the FA and Fifa," he said. "Once you starting involving the police, the floodgates can open and you could end up with a situation where players are arrested during a game."

Pearce followed up Thatcher's letter of apology to Mendes by ringing Redknapp personally to express his regret at the incident, which City captain Richard Dunne claims has visibly crushed his team-mate.

"Normally, Ben is such a bubbly character, but he has lost all that," said Dunne.

"He doesn't want to speak to anyone. He is really down in the dumps - and rightly so."