Spitting image: Totti in trouble

Francesco Totti, the player Italy have built their Euro 2004 team around, will find out on Thursday whether he gets a hefty suspension after...

Francesco Totti, the player Italy have built their Euro 2004 team around, will find out on Thursday whether he gets a hefty suspension after being accused of spitting at Denmark’s Christian Poulsen in Monday’s 0-0 draw.

UEFA has charged Totti, vital to the chances of Giovanni Trapattoni’s side, with “gross unsporting conduct” following a complaint from the Danish Football Association (DBU). Totti’s fate will be determined at a UEFA disciplinary committee hearing on Thursday.

If found guilty the Roman could be forced to sit out several matches and if UEFA takes a hard line could even be banned for the rest of the competition. The DBU said in a statement that “Totti on several occasions, unprovoked, spat in Poulsen’s face.”

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“That is now clearly proved by television footage and still pictures from the match,” said the DBU, adding that UEFA already had talked to Poulsen about the incident during the Group C match in Guimaraes.

Television images broadcast by Italy’s Rai network clearly showed Totti spitting in the face of midfielder Poulsen and precedents suggest the Roma captain could receive a lengthy suspension. In the most recent case in European competition, Lazio’s Serbian defender Sinisa Mihajlovic was banned for eight games after spitting at Chelsea’s Romanian striker Adrian Mutu in a Champions League match in November.