Aston Villa's Turkey defender Alpay Ozalan, who taunted England skipper David Beckham last weekend, has been given time off to be with his family, his club said on Wednesday.

Alpay has been vilified in the British media, which published a picture of an effigy of him hanging from a lamp post in Birmingham, after his widely-publicised spat with Beckham in Saturday's Euro 2004 qualifier in Istanbul.

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Villa issued a short statement on the club's website on Wednesday to confirm that manager David O'Leary had met Alpay and given him permission to "spend more time with his family."

It added: "As a consequence, he will not figure in preparations for this weekend's trip to Birmingham City."

Villa face City in what is destined to be a highly-charged Birmingham derby on Sunday.

Alpay's future in English football has been called into question by commentators since he taunted Beckham after the England midfielder missed a penalty on Saturday and then stuck a finger in his face as they left the pitch at halftime.

Seconds later, there was a tussle in the tunnel between both sets of players with Italian referee Pierluigi Collina ordering Alpay and Beckham to his changing room and telling them to calm themselves and their teams down.

Alpay has had an unhappy time in English football and made only five appearances for Villa last season following repeated demands for a transfer.

He has tried to play down the events in Istanbul, telling the Villa website on Tuesday that the brawl in the tunnel "was nothing really" and that Collina had made him and Beckham "shake hands and then hug each other."

Turkey coach Senol Gunes told CNN Turk television on Tuesday that Alpay's international career could be over after the incidents in Saturday's 0-0 draw, which sent England into Euro 2004 and Turkey into next month's playoffs.

But in an interview with state-run Anatolian news agency, Turkish team manager Can Cobanoglu expressed support for Alpay and said the English were deliberately distorting Saturday's events.

"No country has the right to behave in this way to a foreign footballer who plays in their league," Cobanoglu was quoted as saying.

"The hanging of an Alpay (effigy) from a lamp-post and the burning of his shirts will be a monument of shame in England's history."

Turkish Football Federation official Selami Ozdemir told the agency he did not approve of some gestures by Alpay during the match.

"But what happens on the pitch should stay on the pitch," he said. "Alpay may have done wrong but the incidents should not have been exaggerated this much."