Sheffield Wednesday's Paolo Di Canio was officially ushered into English football's hall of infamy yesterday when he was suspended for 11 games for his assault on referee Paul Alcock.

Di Canio was charged with misconduct by the Football Association after pushing Alcock to the ground seconds after the Kent official had sent him off for fighting with the Arsenal defender Martin Keown during a Premiership game at Hillsborough on September 26th.

An FA disciplinary commission, sitting at the Bramall Lane home of Wednesday's rivals Sheffield United, imposed an eight-game ban on Di Canio for his push on Alcock with an additional three-game suspension for the dismissal itself.

The 30-year-old Italian was also fined £10,000 - an irritation rather than a hardship for a player believed to earn more than £15,000 a week.

During the hearing, Di Canio, a player renowned for his volcanic temper, admitted the incident had "brought shame" upon him.

The suspension is one of the heaviest imposed in Britain and will keep Di Canio out for 10 weeks.

With the one Premiership fixture he has already missed following his suspension by his club counting towards his ban, Di Canio is likely to next pull on his famous white boots on St Stephen's Day, when Leicester City visit Hillsborough.

The punishment was described as "inappropriate" by the Premier League's refereeing officer Philip Don.

"There were 340 assaults on park referees last season. What message does this punishment send out to them? I don't think the punishment is correct; I am disappointed," he said.

After learning his fate, a repentant Di Canio spoke briefly to underline his regret. "I want to say that I am very, very sorry for what happened," he said. "I had a fair hearing and I am happy about that. I look forward to seeing the Sheffield Wednesday fans on Boxing Day."

The FA's director of public affairs, David Davies, described how Di Canio had put the incident down to a momentary loss of reason prompted by Alcock's decision to brandish the red card.

"He said he had made a big and a bad mistake, that he had lost his head for two or three seconds and that it would never happen again," said Davies.

"The commission heard a plea of mitigation on behalf of the player. Paolo Di Canio apologised - to the Football Association, to the referee, to his club, and to its supporters."

During the two-hour hearing Di Canio's legal representatives and the Wednesday director Howard Culley insisted media reports suggesting he had claimed Alcock sought to exaggerate the incident by deliberately falling down were totally without foundation.

"The commission was told by Sheffield Wednesday that the case was unusual because Mr Alcock had fallen to the ground," said Davies. "It was also said that Paolo Di Canio had acted out of character . . . never intended to harm the referee and . . . brought shame on himself."

Davies said any player guilty of a similar offence in future could expect even harsher treatment from the FA.

Culley confirmed that though there would be no appeal, Wednesday would stand by their man. "We look forward to having him back before the New Year," he said.

Culley's vote of confidence dispelled the notion that Wednesday were considering cancelling Di Canio's contract or transfer-listing him.

Initially at least, Di Canio's future at Hillsborough seemed anything but secure after Wednesday swiftly distanced themselves from the player - at £4.5 million the most expensive in their history.

By announcing they had suspended him with immediate effect, Wednesday not only set heads nodding in approval inside Lancaster Gate but moved the question of Di Canio's short-term future to centre stage.

In the 24 hours following the incident, which was captured by television cameras, Di Canio was painted in such a dark hue by everyone connected with the South Yorkshire club it seemed unlikely he would ever again wear Wednesday's blue and white stripes.

But, as time passed, attitudes began to soften and it was after Sunday's defeat at Coventry City that Wednesday's manager Danny Wilson admitted his team were unquestionably the poorer for the Italian's absence.

The commission's verdict will be seen as an attempt to pacify all sides, seeking, as it does, to punish Di Canio for an unforgivable indiscretion while not pandering to the hardliners, many of whom had called for him to be banned from English football for life.

Meanwhile, Alcock is determined to put the incident behind him. "I love refereeing," he said. "I've been doing it for 28 years and I will not let this mar my love of the sport in the long term.

"I need to take that positive attitude, it's no good being negative about things. What the FA have done, they have done, and I just need to get on with things and put this all behind me. "My feelings towards Paolo Di Canio in the next game in which I referee him would be the same as for any match. If he plays in accordance with the laws, then I'll have no reason to speak to him."

Wilson said: "I need to get my head around this before deciding what I will say. We've a very important game tomorrow and I may make some comment then."