Brazil will be without captain Neymar for the start of their 2018 World Cup qualifying campaign after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas) upheld his four-match ban from the Copa América. The 23-year-old Barcelona forward was sent off in a Group C match against Colombia in June for kicking the ball at Pablo Armero after the final whistle, an incident that also involved a headbutt on Jeison Murillo and a verbal altercation with referee Enrique Osses.
Brazil played two matches in the tournament without Neymar, meaning the remaining two games of his suspension were to be served in the next official Fifa competition. The Brazilian Football Confederation appealed the ban, but Cas dismissed the appeal on 1 October, confirming Neymar will miss the qualifiers against Chile on 8 October and Venezuela on 13 October.
Cas stated: 'We have today dismissed the urgent appeal filed by the Brazilian Football Confederation against Fifa and Conmebol in relation to the four-match suspension handed down to Neymar Jr during the 2015 Copa América. Conmebol, after consulting Fifa, informed its members that bans which were still not served should be served during the next official competition organised by Fifa – ie Brazil’s qualifying matches for the 2018 Fifa World Cup. Neymar Jr would therefore have to serve his last two-match bans for the games.'
The suspension caps a difficult week for Neymar, who also had £31.3m of assets frozen by a Brazilian court over alleged tax evasion.
