The Court of Arbitration for Sport has rejected an appeal from Uruguay's Luiz Suarez against his four-month ban for biting Italy's Giorgio Chiellini at the World Cup, but he's been cleared to resume training with his new club Barcelona.
Luis Suarez playing for Liverpool. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
The decision means the 27-year-old striker can't make his debut for Barcelona until October 25, but he can at least train with his team-mates and be involved in promotional activities.
He is also barred from playing for Uruguay for nine consecutive official matches.
Suarez will have his first training run for Barcelona tonight.
However, a spokesman for football's world governing body FIFA says he could play in friendly internationals for club and country.
This could allow him to make his Barcelona debut against Mexican side Leon next week if selected.
Suarez's legal team said they had successfully argued that FIFA had misapplied its own rules when considering the case and the sanction it imposed on other football-related activities was disproportionate.
Uruguay and Italy were drawing nil-all when the incident happened late in the game. Shortly afterwards, Diego Godin headed the winner from a corner to send the South Americans into the last 16 at Italy's expense.
Suarez went to CAS, which conducted a hearing on the matter last week, after losing a first appeal at FIFA.
A Liverpool player at the time of the biting incident, Suarez has since joined Barcelona for a fee reported to be 120 million dollars.
Banned twice before for biting, Suarez initially denied sinking his teeth into Chiellini but photographs of marks on the Italian defender's shoulder were damning.
