FIFA took the original decision to ban Ghana defender Jonathan Mensah for four months which has now been upheld by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), GHANAsoccernet.com can exclusively report.
Fifa's Dispute Resolution Chamber (DRC) slapped the four-month ban on the Ghana international in July last year before the agents of the player and his French club Evian decided to appeal at CAS.
Mensah was banned for four months by FIFA in a breach-of-contract case that involves Italian side Udinese.
FIFA judged that Mensah was still contracted to Udinese when he joined French club Evian Thonon Gaillard four years ago claiming to be a free agent.
The original sanction was issued by Fifa's Dispute Resolution Chamber in July last year but action was delayed as the case was taken to CAS.
CAS told Ghana's leading football news outfit that its appeal panel upheld Mensah's suspension imposed by FIFA last July in a case dating to 2011.
"This is to confirm that the CAS Panel has upheld the decision issued by the FIFA Dispute Resolution Chamber on 30 July 2014, save for the sporting sanctions that were imposed on Evian Thonon Gaillard FC which are suspended and referred back to the Dispute Resolution Chamber," CAS Communications Officer Katy HOGG told GHANAsoccernet.com exclusively on Tuesday.
"Mr Mensah received a four-month ban in the FIFA decision. Such decision was stayed during the arbitration procedure at the CAS."
The 24-year-old joined Udinese from Free State Stars in South Africa after impressing for Ghana during their 2009 World Youth Cup victory.
However, the centre-back struggled to get into the Italian team and spent time on loan at Spanish side Granada prior to signing for Evian.