Former Brazil striker Romario's miserable season continued on Thursday when he was handed a three-match ban having only just recovered from a nagging thigh muscle injury.

The 37-year-old, who led Brazil to World Cup victory in 1994, was due to return to action against Gremio on Saturday but has instead been suspended for insulting a linesman during a stormy derby against Flamengo, his club Fluminense said.

Romario was sitting on the team bench at the time of the incident, even though he was ruled out of the match because of injury.

The punishment was handed out by Brazilian football's disciplinary committee (STJD), which has been taking an usually tough line on offenders this year.

Romario, whose 12 goals led Fluminense to the semi-finals of last year's Brazilian championship, has not enjoyed the same fortune this year.

He spent three months playing for a club in Qatar, where he failed to score a goal and was relegated to the substitutes bench. On returning, he admitted the move had been a mistake even though he pocketed more than one million dollars.

Although he scored a hat-trick shortly after coming back to Brazil, Romario has since been hampered by muscular injuries and his team are now flirting with relegation.

His close friend, coach Renato Portaluppi, was sacked in July by Fluminense because of their poor results.

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