Report: FIFA executive hopeful they can 'soften' Luis Suarez's suspension

Barcelona fans might not have to wait until the season's first El Classico to see Luis Suarez in their famous shirt after a FIFA executive hinted at a reduced ban for the disgraced Uruguayan.

Eugenio Figueredo, FIFA vice president and former head of the CONMEBOL federation, told Uruguay's Channel 12 that it's possible the organization could reduce the striker's ban, but gave no indication as to when Suarez can return to first-team action.

"When a little more time has passed we are going to look at how, politically, this punishment can be softened a little," Figueredo said, via Diario AS.

Figueredo went on to highlight the difficulties of having the suspension reduced, when Suarez initially launched an appeal to have the four-month ban and nine-game international suspension trimmed down because of the hostile atmosphere at the time, calling the efforts for a reduction "useless".

The ban was initially supposed to keep Suarez out of the Barcelona line-up until their La Liga clash with rivals Real Madrid on Oct. 25.

Since the suspension was handed down, Suarez has only appeared in a Barcelona B match, where he scored two goals when the club played the Indonesian under-19 national team on Sept. 24.