Chelsea's Rajkovic banned for spitting

Serbia and Chelsea defender Slobodan Rajkovic has been given a one-year ban from all competitions after spitting at a referee during last month's Olympic Games.

World football's governing body FIFA announced the sanction on Friday, following a meeting of its disciplinary committee on Monday.

"The committee decided to suspend Slobodan Rajkovic for 12 months for spitting at the referee on 13 August 2008 after the Argentina v Serbia match," FIFA said in a statement.

"This suspension applies to all national and international matches including club competitions.

FIFA said Rajkovic could appeal against the decision.

Rajkovic, 19, was signed by Chelsea from OFK Belgrade in 2005 at the age of 16 but remained on loan to the Serbian club until the end of the 2006-7 season.

He was then loaned out Dutch side PSV Eindhoven and is currently at Twente Enschede on another loan deal.