Photo by ISIPhotos.com
By DAN KARELL
Luis Suarez’s hopes of playing soccer anytime soon have been dashed.
FIFA stood firm on Thursday, rejecting the Uruguayan FA and Suarez’s appeal for his fine and suspension to be reduced or dismissed. FIFA fined Suarez 100,000 Swiss francs ($112,000) and banned him from nine international matches and four months away from all soccer activities for biting Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini.
“The FIFA Appeal Committee has decided to reject the appeals lodged by both the Uruguayan player Luis Suárez and the Uruguayan FA, and to confirm the decision rendered by the FIFA Disciplinary Committee on 25 June 2014 in its entirety,” a FIFA statement read. “The terms of the decision taken by the FIFA Appeal Committee were communicated to the player and the Uruguayan FA today.”
Both the Uruguayan FA and Suarez have the option of appealing to the Court of Arbitration and Sport, though it’s only under certain conditions. In the meantime, Suarez’s ban will continue.
Although he is banned, Suarez is allowed to complete a transfer move and take a medical, and multiple reports in Spain claim that the Uruguayan star is close to making a big-money move to Barcelona FC.
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