The 21-year-old blasted referee Ben Williams with a string of homosexuality-referenced insults on Twitter during last weekend's game between Melbourne Victory and Brisbane Roar.

He later deleted the tweet and closed his account but by then his tweet had been seen by hundreds of his followers.

Golec later apologised to the referee and was given a final warning by his club that any repeat could cost him his career with the side.

But the apology fanned the flames further by ignoring any mention of his use of gay sexuality as an insult.

He was given until last night to explain himself by the FFA who this afternoon suspended him from playing this weekend's games, in the A-League or National Youth League.

And they vowed to ban him for a further two games if he didn't undertake counselling over the issue, or if he breaches their code of conduct again this season.

A statement from the FFA said: "Football Federation Australia has concluded that Antony Golec was in breach of the National Code of Conduct  by virtue of comments made on Twitter with respect to the match between Melbourne Victory and Brisbane Roar on Saturday 5 November. 

"FFA has determined that the following sanction shall be applicable:

"The player is suspended for a total of three matches.  One of these matches is to be served immediately. 

"Accordingly, the player is prevented from taking part in either of the Club’s Week 6 fixture against Gold Coast United or the Club’s Week 4 NYL fixture against Gold Coast United. 

"The remaining two match sanction is to be suspended and shall only be triggered by one of the following events:

"The player breaches the code during the remainder of the Hyundai A-League season, including finals, or

"The player fails to undergo appropriate counseling and education by Sunday 11 March 2012, being the conclusion of Week 23 of the Hyundai A-League season. 

"Adelaide United FC is tasked with ensuring that this is carried out in an appropriate manner.

"Compliance with this requirement, and accordingly whether the two (2) match suspension will be triggered, shall be determined by FFA in its sole discretion."