ROME, March 31 — Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon has been handed a one-match ban for making a "blasphemous expression” and will miss Saturday’s Turin derby at Torino, the Italian Federal Court of Appeal ruled yesterday.

Buffon was initially given a €5,000 (RM24,332.12) fine over an incident which took place during a Serie A clash against Parma on December 19 last year.

That sanction was appealed by the federal prosecutor, which was accepted on Tuesday by the Federal Court of Appeal, with Buffon’s punishment upgraded to a one-match suspension.

Buffon, 43, has played only five Serie A games this season with Wojciech Szczesny the first choice for the champions.

Andrea Pirlo’s Juve side are third in the standings, 10 points behind leaders Inter Milan with 11 games left to play, and look unlikely to make it 10 Scudettos in a row. — Reuters