Livingston have sacked Argentine midfielder Sergio Berti for what the club termed "gross misconduct".

Berti, who only joined the club in the summer, spat at his young team-mate Richard Brittain during a pre-season friendly against Morecombe at the weekend.

The club board took the decision to terminate the former World Cup star's contract as a result.

Chairman Dominic Keane said: "It's a sad state of affairs although we do not feel this is a harsh decision.

"There is no questioning the player's ability to play football but an incident like this is totally unacceptable.

He added: "We could not allow this to go unpunished for the sake of the rest of our squad."

The player has the right of appeal to the SPL under the terms of his contract.

Berti's departure will be a blow to the management team in a playing sense, with the player promising to be one of Livi's most exciting signings to date.

He has played at the highest level with River Plate, Boca Juniors and Parma.

At the 1998 World Cup Berti scored the first penalty in the second-round sudden-death shoot-out win over England in St Etienne.