Arsene Wenger is ready to take legal action against the Football Association over a 12-match touchline ban - after telling them he will consider becoming England manager if the job is available again in two years.

The Arsenal boss was hit by the FA's new disciplinary clampdown on Tuesday when a Lancaster Gate tribunal accepted fourth official Paul Taylor's submission that the Frenchman physically threatened him in the tunnel at Sunderland's Stadium of Light following the Gunners' 1-0 defeat on the opening day of the season.

Wenger, who has declared himself out of the running for the England job by pledging to fulfil his contract at Highbury, which runs to June 2002, denied the charge - sparked by an official report from Taylor - and claims he is amazed and shocked at the punishment meted out to him.

The ban is more than the eight matches given to West Ham's former Sheffield Wednesday striker Paolo di Canio, who infamously pushed over referee Paul Alcock during a game against Arsenal two years ago at Hillsborough.

Wenger said: ''It is not only harsh, it is an injustice. I feel like I have killed somebody.''

Arsenal have already lodged an appeal on Wenger's behalf and he said: ''If that does not work I may have to go to a legal court. I will certainly consult a lawyer because I just cannot accept it.''

The touchline ban is due to start on October 30 for Arsenal's home Worthington Cup tie against Ipswich and would also include the north London derby clash with Tottenham just before Christmas.

Under new tough FA guidelines brought in this summer, it is difficult to see how English football's governing body can overturn or even reduce the sentence.

The new laws state that any club's representative found guilty of even slight contact with a match official will serve a mini-mum of a 12-match ban. The rule comes with a warning that if there is any repeat the offender is liable to a suspension of up to a year.

Even David Davies, the FA's executive director has said: ''He (Wenger) is a victim of the new disciplinary guidelines.''

Wenger has refused to divulge details of the evidence he submitted on his own behalf last week, but it is believed he intervened when Taylor - new to the Premiership list this season - broke up an argument between Sunderland's Darren Williams, who had gone down as if pole-axed in the incident which produced Patrick Vieira's dismissal, and Arsenal's Thierry Henry.

Henry was physically steered towards the visitors' dressing room and that is when Wenger, apparently clashed with Taylor.

The Frenchman, who was also fined four weeks' wages, probably around £100,000, said: ''I gave my version of what happened and told the FA I was only trying to make sure that something more serious did not happen in that tunnel.

''But it seems they only listened to their official and wanted to support him.

''Maybe I went to the meeting expecting some kind of small punishment, perhaps a fine, but this is far, far too much. It will have a big effect on me and maybe the club because I have a problem with sitting in the stand."

Today, Wenger will be in his usual place in the dug-out when Arsenal try to stretch their unbeaten ten-match run in the Highbury Premiership clash with Aston Villa, whose own boss John Gregory, suffered a six-match suspension last season.