Thiago Silva appeal rejected by FIFA

Thiago Silva will miss Brazil’s FIFA World Cup semi-final after an appeal to rescind the caution he received against Colombia was rejected.

Brazil captain Thiago Silva received his second booking of the tournament in the 64th minute of their 2-1 win over Colombia last Friday for blocking goalkeeper David Ospina from taking a kick.

The Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) appealed the decision in the hope of having the decision overturned to allow the 29-year-old to play in Tuesday’s last-four meeting with Germany at Estadio Mineirao in Belo Horizonte.

However, their plea has fallen on deaf ears, with FIFA’s disciplinary committee instead opting to dismiss the case.

A FIFA statement read: “With regard to CBF’s request for the cancellation of the caution shown to the player Thiago Emiliano da Silva during the match played against Colombia, the chairman came to the conclusion that the FIFA Disciplinary Committee cannot consider the matter given the fact that there is no legal basis entitling it to grant such request.”

Meanwhile, the disciplinary committee also confirmed that no action will be taken against Colombia defender Juan Zuniga for a challenge that saw Brazil star Neymar suffer a tournament-ending injury.

Neymar sustained a cracked vertebra in the 86th minute of the clash after Zuniga’s knee came into contact with the Barcelona forward’s back.

The CBF complained to FIFA about the tackle, for which Napoli player Zuniga did not receive a yellow card.

But FIFA have ruled that they cannot issue a punishment as the incident “did not escape the match officials’ attention”.

The statement read: “No retrospective action can be taken by the FIFA Disciplinary Committee, since the incident involving the Colombian player Juan Camilo Zuniga Mosquera did not escape the match officials’ attention, which is the first of two cumulative and necessary conditions for art. 77 a) of the FDC (FIFA Disciplinary Code) to be applied.

“Meanwhile art. 77 b) of the FDC, which entitles the Disciplinary Committee to rectify obvious errors in the referee’s disciplinary decisions, equally cannot be applied in this case because neither a yellow card nor a red card was shown by the referee to the player Juan Camilo Zuniga Mosquera. “