Napoli striker Gonzalo Higuain’s four-match ban for violently protesting on the pitch about a red card was cut to three on appeal yesterday but the 20,000 euro ($23,000) fine stood, the Italian FA said yesterday.

The Italian FA gave no reason for the decision.

The 28-year-old Argentine pushed the referee and shouted at him before being removed from the field by his team mates during Napoli’s 3-1 loss to Udinese on April 3.

Higuain, a Serie A top scorer, will be back in time to help his team hold off third-placed Roma, who are trailing Napoli by six points.

Napoli, six points behind league leaders Juventus, face fourth-placed Inter today who are still hoping to get a place in next season’s Champions League.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.