Court upholds Luis Suarez suspension but lifts training ban

GENEVA

Luis Suarez Thursday failed to win a reprieve from his four-month ban for biting Italy’s Giorgio Chiellini at the World Cup, but got a green light to resume training.

In a hotly-awaited ruling, the Court of Arbitration for Sport said it had found Suarez guilty of assault during Uruguay’s World Cup match against Italy, in what was one of the highest-profile incidents at the sporting extravaganza in Brazil.

The decision means that the 27-year-old striker remains unable to make his debut for his new club Barcelona until October 25, but can at least train with his team-mates and be involved in promotional activities.

He is also barred from taking to the pitch with Uruguay for nine consecutive official matches.

SANCTIONS PROPORTIONATE

“The CAS Panel found that the sanctions imposed on the player were generally proportionate to the offence committed,” the court said in a statement.

“It has however considered that the stadium ban and the ban from ‘any football-related activity’ were excessive given that such measures are not appropriate to sanction the offence committed by the player and would still have an impact on his activity after the end of the suspension.”

Suarez, accompanied by his lawyers and representatives of Barcelona and the Uruguayan Football Association, had last Friday pleaded his case in person at a closed-door session of the Swiss-based CAS, which is the final court of appeal in the sports world.

Its three expert arbitrators — two Swiss and one Italian — did not issue a detailed ruling because that case was heard under an expedited procedure under the agreement of all concerned.

The CAS said that the full findings would follow at a later date. Suarez, who has a record of bans for biting opponents, was barred from all football-related activity for four months after biting Chiellini on the shoulder during Uruguay’s final Group C game on June 24 in Natal.