FIFA issue Colombia star Edwin Cardona a five-game ban for racist gesture he made against South Korea

FIFA has banned Colomia international Edwin Cordona for five games following a “discrimatory gesture” he made during a match against South Korea.

During the 2-1 win for the hosts Cardona sparked racial controversy after making a “squinting-eyes” gesture.

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The Boca Junior midfielder will be allowed to serve his bad during friendly games, meaning he should be available to participate for Colombia in next year’s World Cup opener against Japan.

Cardona has also been fined 20,000 Swiss francs (£15,136) because of the incident that occurred last month during the friendly in Seoul.

A FIFA statement read: The Colombian player Edwin Cardona has been sanctioned for making a discriminatory gesture at an opponent during the friendly match played between the representative teams of Korea Republic and Colombia on November 10 2017.

“Cardona has received a five-match suspension on the basis of art. 58 par. 1a) of the FIFA Disciplinary Code, with the suspension to be served during the upcoming friendly matches of the Colombian representative team, as well as a stadium ban for those five matches and a fine of CHF 20,000.”

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At the time, Cardona made a public apology for the gesture and suggested the incident was misinterpreted and he didn’t mean to insult South Koreans.

He said:  “It was not my intention to show a lack of respect to anyone, or a country or race, but if anyone feels offended or have interpreted it that way I can only apologise a thousand times.

“I am not a person who seeks conflict and I’m sorry that a situation during the game has been misinterpreted in this way.”

Although Cardona denied all wrongdoing, Korea international Ki Sung-yueng described the behaviour as “absolutely unacceptable” after the match.