Jiangsu Suning's £25 million-man Ramires Santos do Nascimento, or simply Ramires, is speculated to face a "lengthy ban" from China top flight competitions after the Brazilian's attempt to attack a Chinese Super League referee during his team's 1-2 loss to cellar dwellers Shandong Luneng last Saturday.

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Ramires, who transferred from English Premier League side Chelsea in January for a then Chinese record of £25 million, was sent off with a red card by referee Zhang Long in the end of a tough battle with Taishan Dui at the Jinan Olympic Sports Center Stadium during the weekend.

Jiangsu just lost by a point to the former bottom dwellers and the 29-year-old midfielder seemed to not be able to control his emotions, angrily "running towards the official before being held back by his team-mates from confronting the man in the middle", as reported by Fox Sports.

The report also noted that the "Brazil international could face disciplinary action for the incident", although there are still no official announcements as to the length or depth of the penalty. What is sure is that he will be disallowed to join the squad during their game against Yanbian Funde this coming Saturday, July 16.

Ramires' debacle is just a part of Suning's forgettable weekend as the team had lost for the second time in their last three outings, increasing the gap between them and league leaders Guangzhou Evergrande to 10 points as of the moment.

Fortunately for Jiangsu, climbing third-placed squad Shanghai SIPG has yet to overtake them in the standings while fourth-placed team Hebei China Fortune is also reeling after three straight losses. Head coach Choi Yong-soo's side is still two points ahead of the Massive and the Samba Kings after 17 rounds of competitions.

Meanwhile, The Sun indicated that Ramires is thinking about moving back to Italy after the Suning Group recently bought a majority stake of Serie A powerhouse Inter Milan.

There is a possibility that it can take place, but at the moment the Brazilian insists that he is happy in China.

"Inter Milan, they're a club that needs no comment and I think fondly about the chance to play in Italy," Ramires said. "But for now there's nothing concrete. I'm happy in China. My focus is to continue helping this project with Jiangsu."

TagsChina Football, Chinese Super League, Chinese Super League rumors, Ramires, Jiangsu Suning FC