FIFA extends Paolo Guerrero's provisional suspension by 20 days

Peru is going to the World Cup for the first time since 1982, but Paolo Guerrero is still waiting to find out when his suspension will end.

Edwin Oviedo, the Federacion Peruana de Futbol's president, explained to the press on Tuesday that FIFA prolonged Guerrero's suspension by 20 days. The Peruvian striker was provisionally suspended for 30 days by FIFA's Disciplinary Committee - the result of an adverse analytical finding - and was unable to take part in Peru's 2-0 victory on aggregate over New Zealand, which confirmed La Blanquirroja's place at the 2018 World Cup.

Guerrero apparently presented all the evidence at a trial in Zurich in November, demonstrating to FIFA that he didn't use cocaine. It's possible that he drank tea containing a coca leaf, a common style of drinking tea in South America.

"We've just been notified by FIFA that there is a suspension of 20 days for an evaluation that this disciplinary committee is taking," Oviedo said, according to El Comercio. "We hope that this time that they're taking is to be able to resolve favourably."

The prolonging of the suspension means that Guerrero will miss the final of the Copa Sudamericana, in which Flamengo will play CA Independiente.

It's reportedly probable that FIFA's official sanction will be known this weekend, and Guerrero, along with his lawyers and the FPF, expect that the punishment will be no longer than six weeks, allowing him to play in the 2018 World Cup.