FIFA have confirmed that they’ve banned Argentinian superstar Lionel Messi just hours before a World Cup qualifier against Bolivia.

Messi has been banned for four matches for using aggressive language towards a match official during their 1-0 win over Chile last week.

The Barcelona forward was caught saying: “the c*** of [Silva’s] mother” towards match referee, Sandro Ricci, who failed to include the incident in his match report, claiming he did not hear anything from the player.

Messi refused to shake the referee’s hand following the full-time whistle. FIFA stepped in and took action and Messi will now miss all but one of Argentina’s remaining World Cup qualifiers.

Argentina remain on course to qualify but will now have to do without their key man.