Italy forward Francesco Totti has been banned by UEFA for three matches for spitting at Denmark's Christian Poulsen, in a Euro 2004 match on Monday, his lawyers said.

European soccer's governing body ruled on Thursday, after a disciplinary committee hearing lasting for more than three hours, that Totti had been guilty of "gross unsporting conduct" after viewing video evidence from the Group C game in Guimaraes on Monday which ended 0-0.

A serious-looking Totti left without comment after the hearing in a Lisbon hotel.

The hearing came after the Danish Football Association (DBU) made an official complaint to UEFA following the release of images showing the Italy forward clearly spitting in the face of Poulsen.

A four-match suspension was once discussed.

The ban prevents Totti from the remaining two Group C games against Sweden and Bulgaria, and the quarter-finals if Italy get that far. It is a serious blow for the pre-tournament favorites Azzurri.

Coach Giovanni Trapattoni has built his team around the Roma captain, but now he must swiftly restructure his side in time for the game against the in-form Swedes in Porto.

The incident is also a major blow to the image of Italian football which had hoped to put their bitter exit from the World Cup two years ago well behind them.

The Italians were knocked out in the second round of the World Cup to co-hosts South Korea in a controversial golden goal defeat in which Totti was sent off for diving.

If Totti was seen at that time by some Italians as an innocent victim of sort of bias, there has little sympathy this time for Totti whose status in Italian football is comparable with that enjoyed by David Beckham in England or Ronaldo in Brazil.

The official Italian team brochure produced for Euro 2004 describes Totti as "a symbol of Italian football worldwide".