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NO REPRIEVE . . . Luis Suarez (right) was banned for four months for biting Giorgio Chiellini (left) and the ban was upheld by the Court of Arbitration for Sport yesterday

LAUSANNE. — Luis Suarez’s four-month biting ban has been upheld by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, but he is now clear to train with new club, Spanish soccer giants Barcelona.
A full explanation of the ruling will not be published until a later date.
Suarez’s lawyers argued world governing body Fifa’s decision to suspend him from all “football-related activity” for biting Italy’s Giorgio Chiellini at the World Cup was excessive.

Suarez (27) will be available from El Clasico at Real Madrid on October 26.
The Uruguay striker will continue to serve a nine-match international ban but, having previously been banned from all “football-related activity”, he can now train and attend matches.

“The sanctions imposed on the player by Fifa have been generally confirmed,” CAS said in a statement yesterday.
“However, the four-month suspension will apply to official matches only and no longer to other football-related activities (such as training, promotional activities and administrative matters).”

“The CAS Panel found that the sanctions imposed on the player were generally proportionate to the offence committed.
“It has however considered that the stadium ban and the ban from “any football-related activity” were excessive given that such measures are not appropriate to sanction the offence committed by the player and would still have an impact on his activity after the end of the suspension.”

Suarez’s legal team said they had successfully argued that Fifa had misapplied its own rules when considering the case and the sanction it imposed on other football-related activities was disproportionate.

“As a result, Suarez is now permitted to train and attend matches with his Barcelona teammates in preparation for the new season,” his lawyers said in a statement.
Suarez was suspended after sinking his teeth into Chiellini during the second half of Uruguay’s 1-0 win in a World Cup group game on June 24.

After losing an appeal with soccer’s world governing body Fifa, Suarez took his case to CAS, which conducted a hearing on the matter last Friday.
Suarez was a Liverpool player at the time of the biting incident but has since joined Barcelona for a fee reported to be 81 million euros (US$108,48 million) by local media.

Barcelona’s La Liga season starts at home to Elche on August 24, meaning Suarez will miss eight games before he can make his debut for the Catalan giants.
At last week’s hearing in Lausanne, Suarez’s legal team had argued he should be allowed to train with Barca during his suspension and that his ban should be limited to international football.

The ban, handed down by world governing body Fifa, is the longest in World Cup history.
Suarez apologised some time after the incident, despite initially claiming to have lost his balance.

He has previously been suspended for biting PSV Eindhoven midfielder Otman Bakkal and Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic.
He was also given an eight-match suspension and fined £40 000 for racially abusing Manchester United’s Patrice Evra in 2011.

The three-man panel of CAS arbitrators consisted of the president, Bernhard Welten from Switzerland, his compatriot Marco Balmelli and Luigi Fumagalli from Italy. — BBC Sport.