MOSCOW (Sputnik) — FIFA’s Disciplinary Committee on Tuesday barred Argentina’s national football team star Lionel Messi from the World Cup qualifier in Bolivia for insulting an assistant referee, hours before the match.
"Messi will be suspended for four official matches and sanctioned with a fine of CHF 10,000 [$10,158]. The first match for which the sanction will apply is the next fixture in the preliminary competition of the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia between Bolivia and Argentina, which will be played today," the FIFA statement read.
The football's governing body found the FC Barcelona forward guilty of "having directed insulting words" at Dewson Silva during the Argentina-Chile game last Thursday, denting his team’s changes of going to Russia for the 2018 FIFA World Cup final.
