FIFA rescinds Lionel Messi ban

FIFA has rescinded Lionel Messi's four-game international ban for Argentina after an appeal.

The Barcelona frontman was handed the ban in March after it was alleged that he had said "fuck off, your mother's c*nt" to an official during their 1-0 triumph over Chile.

Messi denied making the comments and launched an appeal against the ban as well as the accompanying £8,100 fine.

In a statement, FIFA confirmed: "The FIFA appeal committee has upheld the appeal lodged by the Argentinian Football Association, on behalf of the player Lionel Messi, against the decision taken by the Fifa disciplinary committee, lifting the sanctions imposed on him as a result.

"Despite the fact that the FIFA Appeal Committee considered Lionel Messi's behaviour as reproachable, the former concluded that the evidence available was not sufficient to establish to the appropriate standard, i.e. to the comfortable satisfaction of the members of the Appeal Committee, that art. 77 a) of the FDC, according to which the Disciplinary Committee is responsible for sanctioning serious infringements which have escaped the match officials' attention, could be applied.

"The Appeal Committee nevertheless underlines the importance of always showing respect to the match officials, stressing that such a principle is essential in football and any unsporting conduct that may be contrary to the principles of fair play cannot be accepted."

Messi already sat out the 2-0 loss to Bolivia in March but is now free to play in crucial upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Uruguay, Venezuela and Peru.