Portuguese international Joao Pinto has been banned from club and international football until October 17 for punching a referee during the World Cup finals, FIFA announced today.
He had originally been suspended after striking Argentinian referee Angel Sanchez in a melee after being shown a red card during Portugal's 1-0 defeat to Portugal, which sent the Portuguese crashing out of the tournament.
FIFA this afternoon imposed a six-month suspension, but said two of those were considered a partial suspension, meaning he will be allowed to play again in October.
