Chelsea defender Marcos Alonso has been given a three-match ban for violent conduct after a tackle on Shane Long in Saturday’s 3-2 win at Southampton.
He will miss Sunday’s FA Cup semi-final against the same opponents at Wembley, plus Premier League matches at Burnley on Thursday and Swansea on 28 April.
The Spaniard denied the charge and said such a suspension would be excessive.
But this was rejected after an independent regulatory commission hearing on Wednesday.
The FA took retrospective action against the 27-year-old after officials, including referee Mike Dean, failed to see the incident.
“It was a poor challenge – it should have been a red card in my view,” said Southampton manager Mark Hughes after his relegation-threatened side’s defeat.
“The disappointment was the officials didn’t see it. They were all within a 10 to 15-metre radius – one of them should have seen it.”
On Wednesday, Alonso was named in the Professional Footballers’ Association’s Premier League team of the year – the only representative from Chelsea.
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