A pitch invader wearing a Mexican wrestling mask has been handed a 10-year ban following bizarre scenes in a Canberra first-grade football match over the weekend.

The invader ran onto the field in the second half, of the game between Cooma and Woden-Weston, with his face masked and brandished the referee with a red card.

Players then ripped off the mask and exposed the man’s identity before he was taken from the field.

It is understood the man is a former referee who was staging a protest against the treatment of officials in Canberra over the past 12 months.

Capital Football – the ACT’s football governing body – wasted no time in punishing the invader and slapped him with a decade-long ban.

It means he cannot attend games at any level – from grassroots to international fixtures – and Capital Football are reportedly asking Football Federation Australia to implement the ban nationwide.

The governing body’s chief executive Phil Brown told the Canberra Times: “As you can imagine, it’s not a nice experience having someone with a mask on run at you directly in a game. It left the referee feeling quite threatened and intimidated.”