FIFA TODAY OVERTURNED Lionel Messi’s four-game ban from international football, imposed for swearing at an assistant referee, saying there was not enough evidence to support the stiff punishment.
The U-turn is a major boost to Argentina’s hopes of reaching next year’s World Cup in Russia, with a trip to Uruguay next up in August as the Albiceleste sit fifth in the qualifying table.
Fifa say its appeal committee sided with a challenge filed on Messi’s behalf by the Argentine Football Association (AFA) and lifted “the sanctions imposed on him as a result”.
“Despite the fact that the Fifa Appeal Committee considered Lionel Messi’s behaviour as reproachable” it concluded “the evidence available was not sufficient” to justify a four-game ban.
In March the striker was found guilty of “having directed insulting words at an assistant referee” in a World Cup qualifier against Chile which Argentina won 1-0 thanks to a penalty from the Barcelona star.
Argentine football chief Armando Perez conceded that Messi “made a mistake”, but argued that Fifa’s sanction was disproportionate.
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