Argentina football star Lionel Messi has been penalised with a ban and a fine after he was shown the red card in Argentina’s win over Chile in the third-place match of Copa America 2019.
The 32-year-old Argentine will now have to serve a one-match ban suspension after his argument with Gary Medel on the field. Notably, Argentina had gone on to win this particular match 2-1.
South American Football Confederation, CONMEBOL, also confirmed in a statement that the Barcelona forward has been fined $1,500. There would not be any appeal possible and it would be mandatory for Messi to serve the ban.
The solitary judge at the helm of the disciplinary tribunal stated: “The automatic suspension has been imposed on the player Lionel Andres Messi, not agreeing on any additional suspension” when imposing the fine worth $1,500 fine.
It is worth noting that after the Chile match for third place Messi had said “I think the cup is fixed for Brazil. I hope that the VAR and the referees have nothing to do in this final and that Peru can compete because they have the team to do so although I think it’s difficult.”
Leo also went on to suggest that the red card he received in the match against Chile was not because of what happened in the field but because he had criticised the umpires.
In response, CONMEBOL released a statement in which they described Messi’s comments as “unacceptable” since it clearly shows disrespect for the coveted tournament. The body moreover said that his comments were in fact “unfounded accusations”.
When most people expected a harsher punishment, CONMEBOL has backed down from handing one such to the champion player.