Víctor Gabriel, an Inter de Porto Alegre defender, was suspended until Gabriel Pec returns to training after suffering a fracture in his left leg in a play involving him.
The sanction has a maximum of 180 days, meaning six full months off the pitch, and on top of that there is a fixed punishment of six matches that Víctor Gabriel will have to serve no matter what.
A punishment that depends directly on another player’s recovery, something unusual in football. There is still one card left to play: both the footballer and his club can appeal the ruling.
But for now, the message from the Superior Court of Sports Justice was forceful. Sporting justice or a dangerous precedent?