Lionel Messi has been banned from Argentina’s next four World Cup qualifiers, starting in Bolivia.
Lionel Messi is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward for Spanish club FC Barcelona and the Argentina national team.
Messi was banned for “having directed insulting words at an assistant referee” during a home qualifier against Chile.
Messi and the Argentine soccer federation can appeal against the ban to FIFA. Messi was also fined 10,000 Swiss francs ($10,160).
FIFA intervened when the incident was not initially reported by the Brazilian referee after Argentina’s 1-0 win at Monumental Stadium in Buenos Aires.
It was judged a red-card offense for Messi, who scored the only goal from a first-half penalty.
After the game, Messi refused to shake hands with the assistant who had annoyed him.
Messi will also miss Argentina’s game at Uruguay on Aug. 31, and home games against Venezuela on Sept. 5 and Peru on Oct. 5.
Often considered the best player in the world and rated by many in the sport as the greatest of all time, Messi is the only player in history to win five FIFA Ballon d’Or awards, four of which he won consecutively, and the first to win three European Golden Shoes.