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MOSCOW (AP) — A teenage Russian handball player faces a lengthy ban for stomping on her opponent's head in a girls' under-17 game.
Kristina Kotolup was playing for the Rostov region against the Moscow city team in the national youth championship on Tuesday when she attacked fallen opponent Alexandra Pustokhina.
Footage of the incident posted online appears to show Kotolup knocking Pustokhina to the ground, a foul which gave the Moscow team an opportunity to score, before she brings her foot down hard on Pustokhina's head in apparent frustration.
The Russian Handball Federation says Kotolup was immediately ejected from the game. She has now been suspended for three games as a preliminary measure.
The RHF says the sanction is likely to be extended.
There was no word on whether Pustokhina was injured.
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