Craig Bellamy has been charged with violent conduct by the Football Association, following the Cardiff forward's clash with Swansea midfielder Jonathan de Guzman in last weekend's south Wales derby.
Bellamy appeared to catch de Guzman with his arm during the second half of Swansea's 3-0 victory at their Liberty Stadium ground on Saturday.
The incident was not seen by referee Andre Marriner and his linesmen, with an FA statement on Monday saying: "Cardiff City's Craig Bellamy has been charged by the FA for violent conduct following an incident which was not seen by the match officials but caught on video."
Bellamy has until 1800GMT on Tuesday to respond to the charge.
If the former Wales striker accepts the charge, he will receive a three-game ban that would mean he missed Tuesday's Premier League game against Aston Villa, the FA Cup tie with Wigan and a further league match against Hull.
Prior to Monday's announcement by the FA, Cardiff manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said there was no need for any action to be taken against his player.
"For me it was absolutely nothing. If that was me going down like that, my Dad would have had something to say," the former Manchester United and Norway striker said.
"But then again you can look at (Angel) Rangel when he kicks (Wilfried) Zaha in the first half. Nothing is mentioned about that. But that's just football.
"The referee saw it, they just ran into each other. I have spoken to Craig, we speak about loads of things and it is just one of those things when you run into each other. No problem."
However, Swansea coach Garry Monk insisted after the match: "I don't think Jonathan made too much of it. He took a blow to the back of the head. I think it's off the mark to say he made a meal out of it.
