May 8 – Lionel Messi is free to represent Argentina in their World Cup qualifiers after his four-match international ban was controversially overturned following an appeal by his federation.
The Barcelona maestro was handed the ban by FIFA after a verbal outburst against a match official in Argentina’s win over Chile in March.
Messi has already missed the 2-0 defeat to Bolivia and could have been excluded from World Cup qualifiers against Uruguay, Paraguay and Venezuela. But now he has won a reprieve.
A FIFA appeal committee said while his behaviour was “reproachable”, “the evidence available was not sufficient to establish” an infringement had occurred. A fine of 10,000 Swiss francs (£7,800) was also lifted.
“The appeal committee nevertheless underlines the importance of always showing respect to the match officials, stressing that such a principle is essential in football and any unsporting conduct that may be contrary to the principles of fair play cannot be accepted,” it added in a statement.
Messi had strenuously denied wrongdoing had vowed to fight the charges with Argentina’s World Cup qualification hopes hanging in the balance. But Chilean star Arturo Vidal suggested there is one rule for Messi and one for everyone else. Chile have also had a number of suspensions during the current World Cup qualifying campaign with Jorge Valdivia and Gary Medel having to serve full four-game suspensions.
Vidal, who did not play in the March defeat to Argentina, suggested Messi received special treatment.
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