Barcelona cannot introduce Luis Suarez to fans until end of ban

Barcelona's public unveiling of new acquisition Luis Suarez must wait until he has completed a four-month ban for his third career biting incident.

Suarez's transfer will be completed in the coming days, but he will not receive the packed-stadium welcome that awaited other marquee acquisitions like Neymar and Cesc Fabregas. Barcelona hoped to unveil Suarez at a non-football venue, but FIFA's head of media Delia Fischer closed that loophole.

"The ban relates to all football-related activity. He cannot be in a football-related public event irrespective of the venue," Fischer said. "He cannot even be involved in a football-related charity event."

Suarez is appealing the ban to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. Suarez's lawyer Alejandro Balbi ramped up the rhetoric ahead of the latest appeal, calling the punishment "blatantly draconian, totalitarian and fascist" and adding "the right of a footballer to work is being violated, and football should be worried about that" during an appearance on Spanish radio.