FIFA hit Argentina captain Lionel Messi with a four-match ban Tuesday for his foul-mouthed tirade at an assistant referee in last Thursday’s 1-0 World Cup qualification win over Chile in Buenos Aires.
The suspension has been immediately imposed for Tuesday’s vital trip to Bolivia‘s high-altitude Estadio Hernando Siles. Argentina’s currently third in the CONMEBOL standings, just two points above both Ecuador in the playoff spot and sixth-place Chile.
Messi will then serve a further three competitive matches on the sidelines against Uruguay, Venezuela, and Peru. He will be available for the friendly with rival Brazil in Melbourne, Australia on June 9.
(Photo courtesy: @ESPNStatsInfo)
Referee Sandro Ricci didn’t include the incident in his post-match report, according to the Associated Press, but football’s world governing body was alerted to television coverage of an evidently angered Barcelona star.
El madridista Infantino en la UEFA manipuló sorteos Champions para su RMA,ahora en la FIFA sanciona a Messi para dejarlo fuera del Mundial. pic.twitter.com/oa5P4FPJbP
— Zona_Blaugrana (@Zona_Blaugrana) March 28, 2017
Messi was additionally punished with a fine of 10,000 Swiss francs, but gave …read more