SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA (AFP) - Dutch defender Sebastiaan van den Brink was handed a four-match ban after making contact with the referee in an Australian A-League match last weekend, Football Federation Australia (FFA) said Monday.

Van den Brink came under scrutiny from the FFA's match review panel in the aftermath of an incident which led to his Gold Coast United teammate Kristian Rees receiving a red card in the first half of the match against Adelaide United.

Rees had been sent off by referee Chris Beath for denying a goal-scoring opportunity on the edge of the Gold Coast penalty area.

Gold Coast contested the decision on the field and in the moments that followed van den Brink came into contact with the referee.

Beath was not aware of the incident at the time but after later viewing footage of the 1-1 draw noted that Van den Brink had touched him.

The A-League match review panel subsequently found that van den Brink had committed the offence of "unsporting conduct toward a match official" and proposed a minimum sanction of four matches.

The former Utrecht defender has until Tuesday to accept the proposed sanction or refer the matter to a hearing by the FFA Disciplinary Committee.