Jonny Evans and Papiss Cisse 'spit' incident: A brief history of football's spitting controversies

Rijkaard, Diouf and co show that spitting is nothing new to the sport

Perhaps football's most notorious spitting controversy of all. (Getty Images)

Jonny Evans has denied any wrongdoing, while Papiss Cisse has issued a far-reaching apology, but both players have been charged by the FA after appearing to spit at each other during Manchester United's 1-0 victory over Newcastle.

The pair now have until 6:00pm on Friday to appeal, with the possibility of a suspension of six games for Evans and seven for Cisse if they are found guilty.

Spitting is one of football's universally-condemned offences, yet as the actions of the likes of Frank Rijkaard, Fabian Barthez and El-Hadji Diouf show, the Evans/Cisse spat (for want of a better word) is just the latest in a long line of saliva-related disputes.

Here, we recount ten of football's most notorious spitting controversies: