City's Arslan faces lengthy ban for alleged ref abuse

The German-born midfielder was cited by FA's match review panel for the "use of offensive, insulting or abusive language and/or gestures against a match official".

The minimum sanction for the offence is a one-game suspension, but such is the severity of his alleged outburst that Arslan was referred straight to FA's disciplinary and ethics committee.

The match review panel deemed Arslan's behaviour warranted a sanction greater than four matches.

FA could opt to beef up that ban, which would leave City severely depleted heading into what shapes as a definitive period in the club's campaign. 

City, clinging to a spot inside the top six after the loss to Perth, face four clubs - Melbourne Victory, Macarthur, Wellington and Central Coast - above them on the table over the next six weeks.

Elsewhere, Perth's Stefan Colakovski was handed a one-match ban after picking up a fifth yellow card for the season and will miss Friday's trip to face Adelaide.