Lionel Messi has been banned for four of Argentina’s final five World Cup qualifiers after a foul mouthed rant at a linesman during his side’s 1-0 win over Chile on Thursday.
Messi discovered his fate only six hours before kick-off in Argentina’s crucial qualifier away to Bolivia in La Paz on Tuesday. He has also been fined £8,100.
Messi said ‘la concha de tu madre’, which translates directly to ‘f*** off, your mother’s ****’ – a common cursing phrase in Argentina – to linesman Marcelo van Gasse.
Argentina are going to appeal against the ruling by FIFA.
Team secretary Jorge Miadosqui said: ‘We are surprised at the decision taken. We are very angry because of the way it was handled with hours to play.
‘We are going to appeal the sanction. We believe that the sanction can be lowered.
‘Messi is sad, which we all are here.’
As well as missing Tuesday’s match against Bolivia, Messi will also be absent for an away game against Luis Suarez’s Uruguay in August and two home matches against Venezuela and Peru in September and October.
It is a major blow for Argentina, whose spot at next year’s tournament in Russia is far from assured.
They went into the match against Chile in fifth position, outside of the automatic qualification spots.
Source:Dailymailsport
