MADRID (AFP) - The Spanish Football Federation's competition commission on Tuesday awarded a league game to Athletic Bilbao after a bottle-throwing incident in Saturday's match at Betis.

The referee cut short the encounter in the 72nd minute after Bilbao keeper Armando was struck by a bottle of water thrown from the stands and had to leave the pitch on a stretcher.

Athletic were leading 2-1 at the time the encounter at the Manuel Ruiz ground was stopped.

The Federation also ruled that Betis should play two home matches behind closed doors but also praised the hosts for tracking down the offender with alacrity.

A similar incident last season in a Cup match against rivals Seville forced Betis to play three home games at another venue, the Olympic stadium.

On that occasion, the then Seville coach Juande Ramos, now at Tottenham, was knocked unconscious by a bottle.