The battle to return Luis Suarez to the pitch took it's final blow on Thursday, with his appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport being denied (per AS). His four month ban from all football activities, however, had a few minor adjustments. Suarez is now free to train with FC Barcelona, but perhaps more importantly, friendlies no longer fall under his ban (per BarcaStuff). The £75-million man is free to make his debut when Barcelona host Mexican outfit Leon for the Gamper Trophy.
The contest will be held this Monday at the Camp Nou.
Luis Suarez can play the Gamper Trophy game on Monday. Friendly games don't fall under his ban any longer. #fcblive [rac1]
— barcastuff (@barcastuff) August 14, 2014
Last Thursday, Suarez's lawyer remained confident that his client would see a reduction in his suspension. "There was dissatisfaction with how other incidents had been treated at the World Cup and Suarez paid for them," Daniel Cravo said (via the Daily Mail). "Not even the sanction of [Zinedine] Zidane in 2006 or those of Leonardo and [Mauro] Tassotti in 1994 were as severe. Is the Suarez incident the worst in the history of the World Cup?"
"I believe that the sanction, which affects his work at a club level will be revoked," he added. "There is no precedent in history to justify it. I am going to try and reduce his ban with Uruguay. Nine games is too much and would stop him from playing until 2016."
Cravo wasn't able to accomplish his mission in its entirety, but he was successful in returning Suarez to the training grounds. By doing so, the controversial striker will be as close to match fit as possible when his suspension ends on October 25—the very weekend Barcelona travel to the Santiago Bernabeu to collide with Real Madrid.
Luis Suarez has never been sent off for biting a player, despite it happening three times (PSV, Chelsea, Italy). pic.twitter.com/I7xOZ7MlBm
— Squawka Football (@Squawka) August 14, 2014
When your worth is upwards of £75 million, it always works out in the end.
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