Lionel Messi of Barcelona gestures during the La Liga match between Real Madrid and Barcelona at Santiago Bernabeu Stadium in Madrid, Spain on April 23, 2017. Burak Akbulut - Anadolu Agency
Zurich: Argentina captain Lionel Messi's appeal against a four-match ban in World Cup qualifying for insulting a referee's assistant was being heard by FIFA on Thursday.
Messi, who was to testify by video, is not expected to get an immediate verdict.
The FIFA appeals panel typically gives a detailed verdict within weeks in non-urgent cases. Argentina's next World Cup qualifier is at Uruguay on Aug. 31.
Messi already served one match of the ban that was imposed when the FIFA disciplinary committee gave its ruling hours before Argentina's 2-0 loss in Bolivia in March.
FIFA was able to ban Messi after match officials did not report the Argentina captain for verbally abusing a linesman late in a 1-0 win over Chile on March 23.
