Burger King guard Wynne Arboleda has been suspended without pay for the rest of the 2009-10 season for attacking a fan during their won game against Smart-Gilas last Friday at the Araneta Coliseum.

The penalty, the severest handed by the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) against a player, serves as a strong warning that the league does not tolerate actions that harm the fans.

“As we pointed out to you, even granting that said fan was foul-mouthed and verbally abusive as confirmed by reports to us, there is a ‘line’ that a PBA player cannot and should not cross: To physically harm a fan,” PBA Commissioner Sonny Barrios told Arboleda.

Barrios said the serious breach endangers the PBA as being perceived by the public as unwholesome and not deserving of fan support.

The PBA Commissioner ended his letter to Arboleda by saying a repeat of the same or similar act will result in a lifetime ban from the league.

Barrios, who met with Arboleda yesterday morning at the PBA Commissioner’s Office in Libis, said such an unwanted act has no place in the league and will never be taken lightly, stressing that the fans’ interest is always the league’s primordial concern as established by PBA forefathers over the years.

Arboleda also became the second player in PBA history to be suspended for the rest of the season after Rudy Distrito.

Distrito, who knocked downed then Alaska rookie Jeffrey Cariaso during the 1995 PBA All-Filipino Finals, was suspended for the rest of the 1995 season by the late commissioner Jun Bernardino. The Games and Amusement Board (GAB) later revoked Distrito’s playing licence, forcing him to return to amateur play in the PABL (now PBL). He returned the following season.

“Alam ko naman kung ano yung pinasok ko, alam ko kung ano yung consequence,” Arboleda said after meeting Barrios.

For committing two flagrant fouls penalty 1 in the game, Arboleda also drew a P20,000 fine. A one-game suspension should have been included and served tomorrow in their game against San Miguel.

This marks only the second time that Arboleda meted suspension in his 10-year PBA career. The first was in 2002 when he was penalized for one game and fined P20,000 for a Flagrant Foul Penalty 1 (F1) against then Alaska import Chris Carrawell.

Arboleda, however, has been fined a total of P100,900 in his career, the biggest of which was the P21,000 fine he had last Nov. 7, 2007 when he committed a similar F1 (P20,000) and a technical foul (P1,000) for planting an elbow on Sta. Lucia Realty guard Joseph Yeo’s face.

The ban means P2.73 million in lost income for Arboleda, not counting won game, advancement and player award bonuses.

Arboleda, a nine-year PBA veteran, went after a heckler at courtside, landing a kick and some punches before being restrained by security personnel.

While serving his suspension, Arboleda cannot be present at the playing venues during Burger King’s games.

As a contracted PBA player even while suspended, Arboleda likewise may not play in any other league.