The French and Portuguese federations were each fined 6,400 euros ($7,700) for the behaviour of their players and the Portuguese have been ordered to pay for the damage caused to their dressing room in Clermont-Ferrand.

The ban counts only for official matches, not friendlies, and will therefore start at Euro 2004. AJ Auxerre's Cisse, the top scorer in Ligue 1, would only be available for the final if France got that far.

"France forward Cisse was sent off for deliberately kicking an opponent," UEFA said in a statement.

"The player then did not leave the pitch immediately, protesting and insulting the referee as well as acting aggressively towards Portuguese players."

France coach Jacques Santini said he was stunned by the ban. "No decision will be made until all the appeal possibilities have been worked out," he said.

AJ Auxerre coach Guy Roux said the sanction was too heavy. "I think it could be rectified on appeal," Roux said after training on Friday.

Cisse's ban is bad news for Santini because he has little direct cover for Thierry Henry and David Trezeguet if they are injured or lose form dramatically during the European championship in Portugal.

Santini must be regretting his decision to allow Cisse to play for the under-21 side in a playoff against Portugal, rather than accompany his national team to Germany for a friendly.

Everything went according to plan in the first leg of the playoff in Guimaraes with Cisse scoring the goals in a 2-1 French win. He also scored in the second leg but was sent off shortly before halftime.

Portugal won the tie on a penalty shoot-out. Another French player, Gael Givet, was banned for two matches for his attitude towards the referee at the end of the second leg.

Cisse, tall, powerful and almost as fast as Henry, is leading the goalscorers' list in France with 12 goals in 16 games. He has 16 caps and was in the France 2002 World Cup squad, coming on three times as a substitute.

Henry and Trezeguet are probably the best striking pair in European soccer but they failed to fire in 2002 when France were knocked out in the first round. With the system favoured by Santini, they have few direct replacements apart from Cisse.

Sydney Govou of Olympique Lyon is the next best thing but he does not scare defenders like the shock-haired Auxerre player and is not as natural a goalscorer.

Manchester City's Nicolas Anelka would fit the bill but his relationship with Santini is glacial. The manager said in August Anelka was France's "most ineligible" player for Euro 2004.