farmer South American champions Gremio have been hit with their second home ban in less than two weeks, this time after one of their ball boys was involved in an incident with a rival goalkeeper.

Gremio, who appear doomed to second division football next year, were given a two-match ban after the youth kicked a ball straight at Intemacional keeper Clemer during last month’s "Gre-nal" derby at the Olimpico stadium in Porto Alegre.

Gremio supporters also threw objects on to the field and one supporter ran on to the pitch during Intemacional's3-1 win.

The club, formerly managed by Brazil's 2002 World Cup winning coach Luiz Felipe Scolari in the mid-1990s, are bottom of the Brazilian championship with 35 points from 40 games.

The bottom four in the 24-team table go down and Gremio are nine points adrift of 20th-placed Parana with six matches left.

They will now have to play their home matches against leaders Atletico Paranaense and Ponte Preta at least 150 kilometres from Porto Alegre.

Gremio could face further punishment after their fans hurled objects on to the field during the match against Palmeiras 10 days ago, in which they were serving their first ban.

That game was played in the town of Pelotas after tennis shoes were hurled on to the field during an earlier Gremio match.