on may 6th, FIFA announced that Messi's appeal was successful, and the four-match ban of the Argentine superstar in the national team was lifted, which means that Messi's remaining three-match ban penalties were all cancelled, and he was able to play for Argentina in the next crucial preliminaries.

On March 23rd, Messi was suspected of abusing the referee during Argentina's home match against Chile in the South American World Cup qualifier, and he refused to shake hands with him after the match. Although the referee did not write this matter into the post-match report at that time, he submitted this incident to the South American Football Association a few days later. The FIFA Disciplinary Committee announced on March 28th that Messi was banned for four games and fined 1, Swiss francs. On March 29th, Argentina played Bolivia in the World Cup qualifier, and Messi has been suspended for one game. In this game, Argentina lost -2 and slipped to the fifth place in the South American standings.

Facing the extremely unfavorable World Cup qualifying situation, Messi and the Argentine Football Association have never given up their appeals.

On May 4th, at the FIFA hearing held in Zurich, the Appeal Board gave up the previous opinion of the Disciplinary Committee. They think Messi's behavior is to blame, but there is not enough evidence to suspend the game.

The Appeal Board also stressed that competition officials must be given due respect, and any behavior that violates sports ethics and the principle of fair competition cannot be accepted.