Brazilian Football Confederation fail in appeal to Court of Arbitration for Sport over Neymar suspension

The Brazilian Football Confederation have failed in their appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport over Neymar's suspension ©Getty Images

An appeal by the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) against FIFA and the South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL) regarding their striker Neymar’s four-game suspension has been rejected by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

The urgent appeal had been lodged in an attempt to allow their captain to play in his country's first two World Cup qualifying matches against Chile and Venezuela, on October 8 and 13 respectively, which were due to be the final two games of his ban.

Neymar had been banned for insulting a referee and head-butting Colombia defender Jeison Murillo in the aftermath of Brazil's 1-0 defeat to Colombia in June, at the Copa América.

His initial one match ban was increased to four after CONMEBOL reviewed the case, ruling the striker out of Brazil’s third group game against Venezuela and their quarter-final loss to Paraguay, with that tie decided on penalties after a 1-1 draw.

The CBF appeal contested the decision of CONMEBOL that bans which had not been completed should be carried over to the next competition organised by FIFA, which would be the 2018 World Cup qualifiers.

Instead, the CBF had wanted the ban applied only to the next Copa América, which is scheduled to take place in the United States in 2016.

Following a hearing in the Swiss city Lausanne, the CAS ruled that “the two remaining match bans will have to be served during the next qualifying matches for the 2018 FIFA World Cup to be held on 8 and 13 October 2015”.

Neymar will now miss Brazil first two World Cup qualifiers — Neymar will now miss Brazil's first two World Cup qualifiers ©Getty Images

Additionally, the CAS stated that “the full award with grounds will be published at a later stage”.

Brazil’s failure to win their appeal means the first qualifier their captain will be able to participate in will be their away tie to arch-rivals Argentina on November 13.

The top four nations at the end of the 10-team round robin tournament will automatically advance to the 2018 World Cup in Russia, while the fifth placed team will take part in an inter-continental play-off against the top nation in the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) qualification system to decide another berth.