Five Chile players handed 10-game bans
Reuters - Wednesday 21 December 2011, 02:16
Chile have suspended five
national team players for 10 matches for returning late and
drunk from time off before a World Cup qualifier last month.
Midfielders Arturo Vidal, Carlos Carmona, Jorge Valdivia and
Jean Beausejour and defender Gonzalo Jara, dropped from the
squad by coach Claudio Borghi before a qualifier away to Uruguay
on November 7, which Chile lost 4-0, were also fined.
"The sanction is to be applied to the next 10 matches
following this decision involving the senior national team, be
it in official [competitive] matches or friendlies," the Chilean
Football Association (ANFP) said on its website on
Tuesday.
The ANFP said the players had arrived "in an inadequate
state to comply with their obligations as professional
footballers... since they showed evident signs of having
consumed alcohol."
Borghi's team recovered from the thrashing in Montevideo to
beat Paraguay 2-0 at home in Santiago four days later.
They are
fifth in the South American group with six points from four
matches, a point behind Uruguay, Argentina and Venezuela.
Chile host Paraguay in a friendly in La Serena on Wednesday
involving players picked from the two countries' domestic
leagues only.
Their next qualifiers for the 2014 World Cup
finals in Brazil are away to Bolivia and Venezuela in June.