Ban boost for Ronaldinho

Ronaldinho is free to play in the World Cup final should Brazil get there after his ban was today confirmed as just one match.

The Brazilian winger was sent off against England on Friday, seven minutes after he hit what turned out to be the winner in the 2-1 victory.

FIFA’s disciplinary committee discussed the incident this morning in Tokyo, but decided against increasing the automatic one-match suspension.

Ronaldinho, who was shown a straight red card for a foul on Danny Mills, will only miss Wednesday’s semi-final with Turkey.