Former international captain banned for LIFE after shocking referee attack as he ‘kicked, insulted and spat on’ official

SYRIA’S former captain Ahmed Al-Saleh has been banned for life after kicking and spitting at a referee last month.

The Al-Jaish defender committed a foul against Al-Wathba and was sent off for squaring up to the ref.

He then lost his cool and made multiple attempts to kick the official before launching a verbal assault.

Al-Saleh had to be restrained by both sets of players as the incident descended into chaos.

It has been reported that Al-Saleh lashed out and continued to insult the ref in the dressing room after the game.

The Syrian FA has slapped a lifetime ban on the 33-year-old, who won 54 caps for the national team.

The SFA disciplinary committee has also fined both Al-Saleh and Al-Jaish, possibly for failure to control their players.

Jordan star Baker Kamal Kalbouneh was also fortunate to escape a ban following his outrageous foul against Tajikistan earlier this month.

The striker was sent off just five seconds into the clash after kicking defender Mekhrubon Karimov in the head.

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Karimov got to the ball first before being hit and he writhed around in agony as Kalbouneh was shown a red card.