Wilshere punished

Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere removes his shirt at the final whistle after his team were beaten 6-3 during the Premier League match against Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium last Saturday. Photo: AFP

Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere was handed a two-match suspension on Thursday after he admitted a misconduct charge over an offensive hand gesture made towards Manchester City fans.
Wilshere was caught by television cameras raising his middle finger at City fans during the second half of Arsenal's 6-3 defeat at East-lands on Saturday.
Although the incident was missed at the time by referee Martin Atkinson and his officials, the English Football Association was able to retrospectively implement disciplinary proceedings against the player under a new pilot scheme for 'not seen' incidents in Premier League matches.
As such, an independent three-man panel agreed if the gesture had been viewed during the game, then it would have merited a dismissal.
Arsenal submitted mitigating circumstances to the governing body, arguing the length of the punishment is excessive, but those submissions were rejected and so Wilshere will now miss both the crucial clash against title rivals Chelsea on December 23 as well as the Boxing Day trip to West Ham.
A statement from the FA read: "Arsenal's Jack Wilshere has been suspended for two matches by an independent regulatory commission."