Napoli to appeal Higuain's four-game ban

Napoli are going to lodge an appeal over the decision to ban Argentine striker Gonzalo Higuain for four matches after his red card during last weekend's 1-3 defeat against Udinese in round 31 of the Serie A football league.

After he was shown the red card on Sunday, Higuain started screaming and became physical with the referee, reports Efe.

Higuain was banned for one match due to the red card, while he will miss three extra matches for putting hands on the referee.

The club is now preparing an appeal, through lawyer Mattia Grassani, to attempt to prove that the striker was not pushing the referee but only holding him back as he advanced and that his verbal protests did not include any obscenities.

Grassani told ANSA news agency: "We have asked to make an application to the Court of Appeals over Higuain's ban."

"The decision on the appeal won't arrive until the second half of next week, I'd say between Wednesday and Friday," he added.

That means Higuain will definitely sit out the weekend game against Verona, as he awaits the verdict of the appeal.

Higuain, top goal scorer of Serie A with 30 goals overall, is supposed to miss Napoli's upcoming games against Verona, Inter Milan, Bologna and Roma.

Currently, Napoli are in second place in Serie A with 67 points, six points behind leaders and defending champions Juventus.