Football's spitting spats

Frank Rijkaard

The most famous spitting incident happened in a 1990 World Cup second-round match between Holland and Germany. Dutch midfielder Frank Rijkaard clattered into German striker Rudi Voller. Voller walked away prompting Rijkaard to jog up behind him and spit in his ridiculous perm. Minutes later, the pair were involved in another clash, which led to both being sent off. While most players in this situation would look glum and trudge off the field, Rijkaard saw his dismissal as the perfect opportunity to once again spit at Voller.

El-Hadji Diouf

In this category Diouf is what is called a serial offender. Buckets could be filled with the amount of spit Diouf has gobbed at his opponents down the years, but two in particular stick in the memory. The Senegal forward was fined £5,000 by the Glasgow Sheriff Court for spitting at Celtic fans during a 2003 UEFA Cup quarter-final tie when playing for Liverpool. Two years later Bolton fined him two weeks' wages after he spat at Portsmouth's Arjan de Zeeuw during a Premier League match.

Francesco Totti

Totti may be a wonderful player, but on occasion he has been known to lose his cool. In Euro 2004 during a group stage match with Denmark Totti spat in the face of opposition midfielder Christian Poulsen. Although the referee failed to act at the time, a subsequent complaint by the Danish FA resulted in UEFA coming down hard on Totti, with a charge of gross unsporting misconduct and a three-game ban his punishment.

Patrick Vieira

A coming-together of football's hard men is always likely to end in tears, as was the case when Arsenal midfielder Vieira and West Ham's Neil Ruddock went toe-to-toe during a league clash in October 1999. After Vieira saw red for a typically robust midfield challenge, Ruddock clashed with the Frenchman in the ensuing melee. As Gilles Grimandi tried to pull his team-mate away from the action, Vieira spat in the direction of the goading Ruddock. The FA took a dim view of the incident, hitting Vieira with a two-match ban for his sending-off and a further four-match suspension for spitting.

Fabien Barthez

The former Manchester United goalkeeper was banned for six months after spitting at the referee in a friendly between Olympique Marseille and Wydad Casablanca. A brawl erupted after Marseille defender Frederic Dehu was sent off, and players from both sides squared up for a fight. Not wanting to miss out, Barthez, who wasn't even playing at the time having been substituted, tore on to the pitch and spat in the referee's face. The match was abandoned with 10 minutes to go.