Argentina star Lionel Messi has been banned from playing for his national team for three months and fined $50,000 by CONMEBOL after he strongly criticised the South American football governing body during the Copa America.
The 32-year-old Barcelona forward had accused CONMEBOL of “corruption” after he was sent off against Chile during the third-place play-off during the tournament in Brazil, which ended last month.
Messi was angered by two incidents during the June-July Copa hosted by bitter rivals Brazil.
Argentina were denied two penalty claims in their 2-0 semi-final defeat to the hosts, after which Messi claimed Brazil were “managing a lot in CONMEBOL these days.”
