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Chile's Gonzalo Jara banned for Copa America after Edinson Cavani incident

Uruguay's forward  Edinson Cavani (L) and Chile's defender Gonzalo Jara gesture during their 2015 Copa America football championship quarterfinal match
Image: Gonzalo Jara: Banned following incident with Edinson Cavani.

Chile defender Gonzalo Jara will miss the rest of the Copa America after being suspended for three matches for grabbing Edinson Cavani's bottom.

Television images from Chile's quarter-final against Uruguay showed Jara grabbing Cavani's backside and then appearing to poke it.

Cavani's reaction was to push Jara away, resulting in the Uruguay striker being sent off as he was shown a second yellow card.

CONMEBOL, the governing body of South American football, said in a statement it was suspending Jara for "unsporting behaviour" while also fining the Chilean FA $7,500.

Jara will miss Chile's semi-final clash with Peru on Monday and, depending on the result of that match, either the final or third-place playoff.

He will also be ineligible for Chile's opening match of the qualifying campaign for the 2018 World Cup.

Edinson Cavani: Held back by team-mates after his sending off
Image: Edinson Cavani: Held back by team-mates after his sending off

Jara's gesture was the main talking point from the match and has been dubbed 'the finger of God' in Chile, an echo of Argentina captain Diego Maradona's infamous 'hand of God' goal from the 1986 World Cup.

More from Copa America 2015

Uruguay had a second player dismissed in the closing stages of the match, prompting a fracas involving most of the players on the pitch, the coaching staff, the match officials and even a touchline cameraman.

Both teams lodged complaints with CONMEBOL. Chile's complaint against the Uruguayans will be dealt with after the Copa.

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