Luis Suarez ban appeal: Striker to learn bite verdict next week

Barcelona striker Luis Suarez will discover next week if he must serve a four-month ban for biting an opponent.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas) heard the 27-year-old's appeal on Friday in Lausanne, Switzerland.

A Cas statement read: "The panel will issue its decision as soon as possible, probably before the end of next week."

The Uruguayan's legal team are confident he will have his ban halved, meaning he will be available to play from 25 August.

The former Liverpool player brushed aside photographers and refused to comment as he arrived by taxi at Cas's headquarters.

Fifa, football's world governing body, imposed a four-month suspension "from all football-related activity" on Suarez after he bit Italy's Giorgio Chiellini in a World Cup group game in June.

Suarez's lawyers were expected to argue that the ban should be limited to international football, from which the striker received a nine-match suspension.

They also hope to persuade Cas to let Suarez train with new club Barcelona during his ban, following his £75m move from Liverpool last month.

Suarez's lawyer Alejandro Balbi told Uruguayan media that the four-month suspension would be "easier to contend against" because it breaches the player's "fundamental rights".

Suarez initially denied biting Chiellini, saying he fell on his shoulder, but apologised after he was banned.

Fifpro, the global players' union, requested for leniency from Cas and asked for a reduced ban if Suarez agrees to undergo "treatment".

A statement read: "The sanctions are a disproportionate response to the offence.

"It has been remarkable to see the response from his fellow professionals and the victim himself, Giorgio Chiellini.

"That Luis Suarez has been trialled and vilified in public, ever since the incident, is a sanction in itself.

"In the international arena, where the offence was committed, a nine-match ban for Uruguay is also too strong as it effectively equates to a two-year sanction."

Suarez gave a statement on Friday to a three-man panel of Cas arbitrators consisting of Bernhard Welten and Dr Marco Balmelli from Switzerland and Italian Professor Luigi Fumagalli.

A Barcelona fan holds up a message of support for Suarez outside the Cas headquarters in Lausanne