CAS to 'expedite' ruling over Neymar ban
Xinhua, September 19, 2015 Adjust font size:
A ruling on whether Neymar can play in Brazil's opening 2018 World Cup qualifiers will be made by early October, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) said on Friday.
The Barcelona forward has served two matches of a four-game ban issued after his sending off in Brazil's 1-0 loss to Colombia at this year's Copa America.
The CBF has argued the suspension should only apply during the Copa America, which falls under the jurisdiction of South American football's governing body Conmebol.
Brazil will begin their 2018 World Cup qualifying campaign against Chile in Santiago on October 8 before hosting Venezuela in Fortaleza five days later.
"In its appeal to the CAS, the CBF seeks to overturn the decisions taken by the FIFA disciplinary committee and the FIFA appeal committee which ruled that the two remaining match bans should be served during the next official FIFA competition," CAS said in a statement.
"As all parties have agreed to an expedited procedure, the CAS will put in place a procedural timetable for this arbitration which allows for a decision to be issued to the parties by early October 2015."
Brazil coach Dunga this week left Neymar out of his 23-man squad for the matches against Chile and Venezuela. Endi