Before the World Cup qualifying match, Argentine national team striker Lionel Messi was strongly angered by the delayed words.
A few days before the match against Chile (1:0), the 29-year-old forward was very displeased with the assistant referee Marcelo Van Gasse's work and cursed him with many insults.
Although initially it was decided to remain silent about this incident in the match report, on Monday, additional information was still sent to the organizers of the qualifying tournament.
FIFA did not take long to make a decision - the five-time best player in the world received a four-game ban. This means that the Argentinian will be without the national team for about four months.
L. Messi will have to miss today's World Cup qualifying match against Bolivia, and later Argentina will have to play without their leader against Uruguay, Venezuela, and Peru.
The "Barcelona" star also received a fine of more than 9,000 euros. L. Messi will only return to the Argentine national team when the team plays the final qualifying match for the 2018 World Cup against Ecuador.
In the World Cup qualifying table, Argentina holds the third position, but they are only one victory away from Chile, who is currently in the fifth position and may still qualify for Russia.
