Uruguay striker Luis Suarez will soon learn whether his lengthy ban from "all football-related activities" will be reduced or not as the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has announced that they will pass their verdict on the matter on Thursday.
The former Liverpool star, who completed a £75 million switch to Barcelona last month, is currently facing a nine-match international suspension as well as a four-month ban from all football-related activities, after Fifa found him guilty of biting Italy's Giorgio Chiellini at the 2014 World Cup.
After Suarez's appeal against the ban - where he claimed that the whole incident is a mere accident - was rejected by Fifa, the striker decided to take his case to the CAS.
The Uruguayan attended a hearing at the CAS court based in Lausanne, Switzerland on Friday, and the committee has said that they will announce their verdict on Thursday.
"The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) will announce its decision in the matter Luis Suarez, FC Barcelona & the Uruguayan FA on Thursday August 14, 2014 at around 3 pm [2pm UK time]. This case was heard on August 8, 2014 at the CAS offices in Lausanne," read a statement on the committee's official website.
"At the request of the Appellants and with the agreement of FIFA, the CAS has conducted an expedited arbitration procedure. As a consequence, the CAS Panel has accepted to render its decision within a short period of time but with grounds to follow later."
Earlier, Suarez's legal team and lawyers were confident that they would be able to convince CAS to reduce the ban on grounds that the suspension violated the player's "fundamental rights".
Also, the Uruguayan's lawyers are hoping to convince CAS to lift Suarez's ban on "all football-related activities" so that he may at least train with Barcelona.
They feel Fifa decided to take the strictest of measures against Suarez due to the striker's track record.
Suarez has already served two lengthy suspensions for biting; after being found guilty of biting a PSV Eindhoven player in 2010 (when he was playing for Ajax) and Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic in 2013.
Apart from that, he was given a lengthy ban after being found guilty of using racially abusive language against Patrice Evra during a Premier League clash between Manchester United and Liverpool in 2011.
