QPR Captain Banned: Joey Barton Suspended 12 Matches for Man City Row

Queens Park Rangers captain Joey Barton was suspended for 12 matches by the FA today after he was found guilty of two counts of violent conduct, according to BBC Sport.

The issue stemmed from the dramatic final day of the Premier League season in a match between QPR and Manchester City.

Early in the second half of the match, Barton got in a tussle with Carlos Tevez.  After it seemed to cool down a bit, Barton unleashed a furious elbow into the Argentine's face on the edge of the box.  The assistant, who apparently saw the whole situation, flagged the referee, who showed a straight red card.

From there, the QPR captain went on a rampage as he kneeed Sergio Aguero in the back, attempted a headbutt at Vincent Kompany and seemingly squared up to fight Mario Balotelli.

Barton was charged with both his knee of Aguero (which he accepted) and his headbutt of Kompany and was found guilty of both.

Barton was also fined £75,000 pounds for his actions.

The chairman of the regulatory commission said on the matter, "There are rules of conduct that should be adhered to, and such behaviour tarnishes the image of football in this country, particularly as this match was the pinnacle of the domestic season and watched by millions around the globe."

After the match, Barton went to Twitter to defend his actions, tweeting (via The Daily Mail):

"Can do nothing but apologise to the players and the fans...

"The head was never gone at any stage, once I'd been sent off, one of our players suggested I should try to take 1 of theirs with me...

"...Never worked but god loves a trier."

Meanwhile, QPR chairman Tony Fernandes has made some uncertain comments as to the future the captain may have at the club.

"There are experienced people who will come back to me and we'll review the whole situation," he said in an interview with BBC Sport.

"There's a process that the club goes through in terms of sendings off and disciplinary action. That's something Mark Hughes will report through to the board.

"I'd rather not focus too much on that at the moment, because it's down to the club to do the investigations and get all of the information. We want to focus on the positive things. We'll wait and in due course our views will be known."

Even if they do want to get rid of him, this suspension may make Barton borderline unsalable.

Though the 12-match ban is quite substantial, it may seem a bit soft to Manchester United, as Barton's sending off impacted the final match that saw City snatch the title at the death.