The incident was a blow to China's soccer authorities, who are trying to change the widely-held perception that corruption and ill-discipline are rife in the CSL.

Cheng, whose team are bottom of the league, twice ran onto the pitch to protest a controversial own goal and a penalty decision during the 1-1 draw against Beijing Guoan on Sunday .

"Cheng and his assistant Wu (Bing) rushed from the sidelines, shouted insults at and pushed the referee, interrupted the match and caused a brawl," the Chinese Football Association (CFA) said in a statement.

Wu received a 10-match suspension and a 10,000 yuan fine, while Xian defender Qu Nannan was banned for four matches and fined 3,000 yuan. The club was fined 20,000 yuan.

Cheng was banned for two matches in March for the same reason and so was handed the most serious penalty the CFA has doled out this season.

"It demonstrated that they did not learn from past, did not put corrective measures into place," said the CFA statement.

Cheng apologised.

"I accept CFA's punishment," he told local media.

"As far as the referee's decisions, I'm keeping my opinion to myself for now."