Former pro basketball player and now coach Carl English has been suspended by the Newfoundland and Labrador Basketball Association.

English was sanctioned for verbal and emotional abuse directed toward an opposing player during a high school charity tournament in November.

It happened at the end of a game, when English was found to have berated the player with a barrage of foul language after the teen declined to shake hands.

A three-member disciplinary panel found English violated multiple policies while reacting to “inappropriate actions” by the player.

They said given his years of experience at all levels of the game, English should have known better as an adult and a coach.

The 60-day suspension was effective as of January 9th.

English is appealing the sanction indicating there are two sides to every story. He admits that the game was intense and chippy and during the line up at the end of the game one of the players refused to shake his hand. He says the player made some comments, and he responded in kind.

He filed his own report on the incident this week.