Asian Player of the Year Abdelkarim Hassan banned for 5 months

Asia’s reigning player of the year has been banned for five months for confronting the referee in the AFC Champions League semi-finals.

The Asian Football Confederation banned Abdelkarim Hassan, the left back of Qatari champions Al Sadd, from all their club competitions until March 20.

Fifa says Hassan will be able to play at the Club World Cup in Qatar in December, which will include Al Sadd. He can also play in domestic games.

Hassan reacted aggressively after being shown a yellow card for a foul in the first half of Al Sadd’s 4-1 first-leg loss to Saudi club Al Hilal in Doha on October 1.

The AFC says the defender “was expelled by the referee for an act of violent conduct against a match official.”