Football
ESPN staff 9y

CAS temporarily lifts Portugal coach Fernando Santos' eight-game ban

LAUSANNE -- Portugal coach Fernando Santos has had his eight-game ban temporarily suspended by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

Santos, 60, was banished from the dugout during Greece's World Cup round of 16 defeat to Costa Rica for verbally abusing match officials.

He was consequently banned by FIFA for eight competitive matches due to "several acts of unsporting conduct toward the match officials."

The former Greece coach saw his appeal rejected by FIFA on Sept. 24 but he then appealed to CAS and on Monday, his request was temporarily granted, though a final decision will be made by the end of November.

A CAS statement read: "The coach of the Portuguese national football team, and former coach of the Greek national team, Fernando Santos, filed an appeal at the Court of Arbitration for Sport [CAS] on Oct. 3, 2014.

"Mr Santos seeks to overturn FIFA's decision to suspend him for eight matches and fine him 20,000 Swiss francs for unsporting conduct towards a match official during the 2014 FIFA World Cup match between Costa Rica and Greece.

"As a preliminary step, the coach filed a request for a stay of execution of the FIFA decision for the duration of the CAS proceedings.

"Having considered the parties' submissions, the President of the CAS Appeals Arbitration Division has today issued an Order granting Mr Santos' request.

"Accordingly, Mr Santos is able to perform his coaching duties until the CAS arbitration concludes.

"In this regard, the parties have agreed to conduct the arbitration on an expedited basis and the CAS expects to be in a position to issue a final decision by the end of Nov. 2014."

Santos took charge of Portugal for the first time during Saturday's 2-1 friendly defeat to France.

However, should the CAS choose to uphold Santos' ban, he will be forbidden from the touchline for Portugal's next eight competitive matches though will be able to pick the team and attend training sessions.

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