adminA DECISION on whether Luis Suárez’s ban for biting will be reduced is likely to be given at the end of next week, the court of arbitration for sport (Cas) said after yesterday’s hearing.
Suárez appeared at Cas headquarters in Lausanne where his lawyers were expected to argue that as his bite on Giorgio Chiellini took place while the striker was playing for Uruguay in the World Cup the ban should be limited to international football.
Barcelona were hoping they might have the former Liverpool player training within days if the Cas ruling lifted the controversial ban on all football-related activity. However, at the end of the hearing it was revealed that Suárez would probably have to wait another week to learn his fate.
A Cas statement read: “The court of arbitration for sport (Cas) has today (yesterday) heard the appeal of Luis Suárez, Barcelona and the Uruguayan FA against Fifa. The hearing took place at the Cas headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland.
“The player was present and gave a statement to the Panel of Cas arbitrators: Bernhard Welten, Switzerland (president), Professor Luigi Fumagalli, Italy, and Dr Marco Balmelli, Switzerland.
“At the end of the hearing, the Panel informed the parties that it will issue its decision as soon as possible, probably before the end of next week. The full arbitral award, with the grounds, will follow at a later date and be published by the Cas.”
Suárez’s lawyer and adviser Alejandro Balbi, who is also a member of the Uruguay FA’s (AUF) executive, admitted there was less chance of overturning the nine-match suspension, but said there is scope for the four-month ban to be reduced on the grounds that it infringes the player’s “fundamental rights”. Balbi told the Uruguyan newspaper El Observador: “It would be more logical to reduce the sanction by a few months than to reduce the ban concerning international games, because legally it’s easier to contend against the terms of the suspension that forbid him from training and from being at the club, because they violate fundamental rights.
“The other ban (the nine-match ban for Uruguay) is more a question of the level of the punishment.”
Barcelona paid Liverpool £75m for Suárez after he received his Fifa ban, which as it stands keeps him out until October 25. — The Guardian
derick.khumalo