FIFA extends Benfica's Luisao ban worldwide

Published Sep. 18, 2012 12:55 p.m. ET

foxsports

FIFA says it has extended Benfica defender Luisao's two-month ban to apply worldwide, preventing him from playing in the Champions League away to Celtic on Wednesday.

Luisao will also miss matches against Barcelona and Spartak Moscow, Benfica's other group opponents, after he pushed over a referee during a preseason friendly in Germany.

The Portuguese football federation imposed the two-month ban last Friday, excluding Luisao from all domestic matches.

The FIFA ban also excludes the Brazil international from friendlies next month when the 2014 World Cup host plays Iraq in Malmo, Sweden, and Japan in Wroclaw, Poland.

Luisao was sanctioned after appearing to collide with the referee, knocking him to the ground, as he ran up to dispute a decision in an Aug. 11 game at Fortuna Duesseldorf.