Brazil lose appeal to CAS against Neymar ban

Neymar's four-match international ban has been upheld after Brazil took his case all the way to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

The 23-year-old Barcelona forward was given a four-match ban after a scuffle in the Copa America match against Colombia in June.

He served the first two games of the ban at the tournament as Brazil lost in the quarter-finals and will now miss his country's forthcoming World Cup 2018 qualifiers against Chile and Venezuela.

A CAS statement read: "We have today dismissed the urgent appeal filed by the Brazilian Football Confederation against FIFA and CONMEBOL in relation to the four-match suspension handed down to Neymar during the 2015 Copa America.

"CONMEBOL, after consulting FIFA, informed its members that bans which were still not served should be served during the next official competition organised by FIFA - i.e. Brazil's qualifying matches for the 2018 FIFA World Cup."

Neymar has scored 46 goals in 67 appearances for Brazil.