Foreign footballer Dagberto Fontebasso tried to spell his name to a referee during his English debut - and promptly got sent off for swearing.

Stunned Dagberto, of Queen's Gardens, Brighton, was shown the red card as he attempted to give his Italian surname to a match official who had booked him for dissent.

In a frustrated bid to explain his Latin moniker letter by letter in his thick accent, the 30-year-old player referred to "F for f***".

Ref Mark Potter immediately gave the goalie an early bath for "foul and abusive language".

But sympathetic football bosses have overturned a mandatory 35-day ban after the player explained his predicament to an appeal hearing.

Dagberto, who was brought up in soccer-mad Brazil by Italian parents, was making his Sussex Sunday League debut for Falmer Athletic against Sporting Beaufort.

Normally a striker, he had been moved to goalkeeper and began remonstrating with Mr Potter after conceding a goal which he believed was offside.

Dagberto, who has played non-league Italian football and is one of a handful of foreign imports in the English equivalent, said yesterday: "I was trying to tell him my name and he couldn't understand.

"I start to say F-O-N-T and he said 'What?' so I start again, F like f*** - and he sent me off.

"Perhaps I was angry and my voice was loud but you shout when you play. It's my way to speak.

"The other team were playing in blue and I thought the referee should have had a blue shirt too - he wanted a piece of me. I thought he had been performing so badly.

"I was aggravated but that is football."

Different Dagberto, who has lived in England for four years and supports Brazilian outfit Palmeiras and Italian giants Parma, added: "I love English football - it is different to other places. But I do not like Manchester United.

"I only played over here because someone I used to play with in the park said I should come and play for his team, Falmer.

"I have never been sent off before and I was not expecting to be in goal. Usually I am a striker but they put the keeper into midfield."

Dagberto no longer plays for Falmer but said he welcomed the decision by a Sussex County FA disciplinary panel to scrap the ban.

Falmer manager Phil Upton said: "It was a pretty strange game and we finished with six players.

"We had four sent off and one went off injured.

"When Berto got sent off we only had one defender left on the pitch so I am pretty sure the goal was offside.

"But he is quite hot-blooded and wasn't happy so he ran to the centre circle and remonstrated with the ref, who took his name.

"Berto was trying to spell his second name but the referee never let him get beyond the E. He said 'Can you say that again?'.

"He did say it again and the ref said 'That's it' and sent him off.

"Berto has got a very strong Italian accent and can be hard to understand but things got out of hand."

Falmer lost the match 4-1.