ZURICH (AP) — FIFA banned three Argentina players on Friday, including a 10-match suspension for midfielder Leandro Paredes, for striking Spain opponents moments after losing the World Cup final.
The ban for Paredes — who grabbed Spain’s Eric Garcia by the throat and pushed Gavi to the ground — ranks alongside the FIFA sanctions for Uruguay forward Luis Suarez in 2014 as among the most severe in World Cup history.
Argentina defender Nahuel Molina was handed a seven-game ban while Thiago Almada was given a one-game suspension. FIFA imposed fines of $90,000 on Paredes and Molina, and $30,000 for Almada.
The ban for Paredes is effectively a one-year expulsion from the Argentina team as the FIFA calendar for national team schedules includes 10 games through June 2027.
All of those games could be friendlies with no competitive games currently scheduled.
Spain’s Gavi also was banned for one game, which is a Nations League match against England at Wembley on Sept. 26.
An Argentina coach, Roberto Ayala, also got a three-game ban and $30,000 fine.
The Argentina soccer federation was fined $110,000 for a range of incidents during the World Cup including players carrying a political banner about the Falkland Islands after the semifinal win against England, and discriminatory chants by fans.
The federation also was ordered by FIFA to spend $100,000 on anti-racism projects. Argentina received $34 million in World Cup prize money from FIFA.
The Argentina federation can appeal the longer sanctions and fines to FIFA, and likely after at the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
In 2014, Suarez was banned from all soccer for four months, including for his new club Barcelona, and eight more competition games for Uruguay for biting Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini in a World Cup group-stage game in Brazil.
The on-field clashes at last month's final — which were charged by FIFA as assault cases — came after Argentina lost a testy final to Spain where it was mostly outplayed and barely created a scoring chance.
Spain forward Ferran Torres scored the only goal of the game in the second period of extra time, after Argentina midfielder Enzo Fernandez was sent off.
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