RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AFP) — FIFA yesterday dismissed appeals by Uruguay and Luis Suarez over the striker’s four-month ban for biting as Rio de Janeiro braced for an Argentine invasion ahead of the World Cup final.

Football’s governing body said it had rejected appeals by Suarez and Uruguay officials over the severity of his ban.

A FIFA statement said the decision was not binding, meaning Liverpool star Suarez could still appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

Suarez was thrown out of the World Cup and banned from all football activity for four months after being found guilty of biting Italy’s Giorgio Chiellini in a Group D game on June 24.

It was the third time Suarez has been found guilty of biting an opponent in his career.

The 27-year-old initially denied any wrongdoing. He later issued an apology admitting Chiellini had “suffered the physical result of a bite” as a result of Suarez’s actions.

If FIFA’s ban is upheld, Suarez will not play football again until late October.

A nine-match international ban also means he will miss all or most of Uruguay’s campaign in the 2015 Copa America.

Suarez has been strongly linked with a move to Barcelona, a deal that seemed to edge closer yesterday after the Spanish giants completed the sale of Chile’s World Cup star Alexis Sanchez to Arsenal.

Suarez has emerged as the biggest villain of the World Cup, which is now looking forward to a dramatic finale on Sunday when Argentina face Germany at the Maracana Stadium for the greatest prize in football.

Host nation Brazil had already been plunged into despair by their team’s record 1-7 hammering against Germany in the semi-finals on Tuesday.

The defeat was the worst ever suffered by Brazil and stunned the football-mad nation.

Argentina could now rub salt into raw Brazilian wounds by lifting the World Cup at the Maracana on Sunday.

“The nightmare continues,” O Dia newspaper commented glumly after Argentina clinched their place in the final with a penalty shoot-out win over the Netherlands in Sao Paulo on Wednesday.

As many as 100,000 Argentine fans are expected to descend on Rio for the final, hoping to see superstar captain Lionel Messi lead his team to victory.