Brazilian star Gabriel Jesus has been
handed a two-month international ban by CONMEBOL for his behaviour during the
Copa America final last month.
The 22-year-old scored and provided an assist before being sent off in Brazil’s 3-1 win over Peru at the Maracana on July 7 – which was the ninth time the Selecao had won South America’s championships.
The Manchester City forward remonstrated with Chilean referee Roberto Tobar after receiving a second yellow card for barging into Peru’s Carlos Zambrano before pushing the VAR monitor and crying in the tunnel.
South America’s football governing body announced a two-month ban for Jesus on Wednesday, in a statement saying “the player is suspended to play official and friendly matches with his national team in that period of time.”
They decided that Jesus broke Articles 7.1 and 7.2 of the Disciplinary Rules for “behaving in an offensive, insulting or defamatory manner of any kind.”
Jesus was also fined $30,000 and is set to miss friendlies against Colombia and Peru in September, but has seven days to appeal the sanctions.
The news won’t affect his Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola, who now won’t have to send his player on international duty during the next window.
Jesus has often been injured during his time at City, including a metatarsal fracture that kept him out for 13 games in 2017 and a knee issue which saw him miss 12 games in 2018.
With City possessing only one other natural striker in the squad, in Sergio Aguero, Guardiola will likely be happy for the rest Jesus receives instead of having to fly to South America.
City begin their Premier League campaign on Saturday with an away trip to West Ham, before matches against Tottenham, Bournemouth and Brighton prior to the September window.
Meanwhile, Copa America champions Brazil were fined $15,000 and warned for the behaviour of their fans at the tournament they hosted.
It has been a busy period post-Copa America for CONMEBOL, with Argentina star Lionel Messi and Chile’s Gary Medel also receiving bans and fines.
Messi was given a three-match suspension after suggesting in comments there was ‘corruption’ at Copa America.-Goal
