A Liverpool player has lost his appeal against a five-match ban after taking his case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas).
Uruguay's Darwin Nunez was involved in a confrontation with Colombia fans following last July's Copa America semi-final, which Colombia won 1-0 to advance to the final.
He was subsequently hit with a lengthy suspension and fined £15,145 ($20,000).
Nunez was one of five Uruguay players who were banned for their actions, but after only serving two matches of his suspension, the ban was temporarily lifted following an appeal by the Uruguay Football Association.
Cas have now reviewed the incident and rejected Nunez's appeal, meaning he will have to sit out three more matches to complete his ban.
Announcing their verdict, Cas said: 'The panel found that in this case the principle of self-defence does not apply.
'The conduct of the players constituted a voluntary, violent and unjustified action which was in violation of the Conmebol disciplinary code.'
Nunez will now miss Uruguay's next three World Cup qualifiers against Paraguay, Venezuela and Peru.
Meanwhile, the other four Uruguay players - including Tottenham's Rodrigo Bentancur - have all served their bans and will be available to manager Marcelo Bielsa for next month's qualifiers.
Nunez was seen clambering into the stands after crowd trouble broke out near where the family members of the Uruguay team were seated.
Ex-Leeds boss Bielsa claimed at the time that his players deserved an apology for the the unsavoury incident unfolded.
'How can you not defend your mother, your sister, a baby?' Bielsa asked in a press conference.
'If they did not do it, they would have been condemned by all of us.'
However, Cas appear to have seen things differently, and Nunez will now have to complete his ban.
Uruguay are currently third in the South American qualifying table behind Argentina and Ecuador, and could seal their place at next year's World Cup without Nunez in their next three matches.
raeaostyz
0
tell us how he did that, did he hit a fan or something, did he fight with fans?...tell us
Yes, there was a physical altercation between Uruguay players and those fans. Punches were swung and seats were thrown. This is harsh on the players because if you can literally see your family in danger what are you expected to do. It's an involuntary reaction, punishing it will not stop it in the future. The venue organiser should be punished.
donreal1990
0
Some people don't even know what happened before commenting and saying useless thing. The guys family was in the middle of what is called fans outburst and the guys heroically went through the crowd to save his family and his been sanctioned for doing so, what an elementary bastar***s
tell us how he did that, did he hit a fan or something, did he fight with fans?...tell us
raacikntyz
1
Some people don't even know what happened before commenting and saying useless thing. The guys family was in the middle of what is called fans outburst and the guys heroically went through the crowd to save his family and his been sanctioned for doing so, what an elementary bastar***s
Cabceprtz
0
South American football now has Belsa and Ancelloti, two great old minds of football!
Yiweklmo
2
Nunez is like Suarez
pozacikrty
2
I have lost the strength and willingness to defend this guy
AbdulZaks008
1
Nunez should rest and stop Playing football
AT62
0
He brought shame to his country and club. I wished he be sold to another club outside England
vopabcdmz
1
He deserves it, that was totally uncalled for. His family already left the stand safely but he chose to climbed up to the stand and throwing punches that is nothing to do with defending the family.