Central Coast goalkeeper Danny Vukovic's final attempt to be reinstated into the Olyroos squad for next month's Olympic Games has been unsuccessful.
Vukovic's appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport was dismissed late last week and his Beijing dream is now officially over.
The finding ends a five-month-long process of appeals by the Mariner who was originally suspended by Football Federation Australia for 15 months in total after he manhandled referee Mark Shield in this season's Hyundai A-League Grand Final.
Since that infamous February evening, Vukovic has been on an emotional rollercoaster which at one stage saw him headed for the Olympics.
After the 23-year-old appealed his penalty the first time, he only had half of the suspended six-month portion of his ban wiped - meaning he was still effectively prohibited from playing for nine months from the day of the grand final.
Then on April 23, Vukovic took his case to an independent appeals committee which drastically amended his original penalty by only banning him from playing any football matches from the day its decision was handed down until June 24 and then again from August 29 until October 5 inclusive.
As the Beijing Games take place from August 8 to 24 the revision meant he was free to play for the Olyroos in the world's biggest sporting event.
However, FIFA intervened a month ago and ruled that the Central Coast goalkeeper can not play for Australia's Olympic team next month and the Court of Arbitration for Sport upheld that finding.
In some good news for Vukovic, FIFA's ruling only applies to international fixtures and he will be free to play for the Mariners up until August 29 before he effectively serves a five-match ban which will end on October 5.
The full reasoning behind the Court of Arbitration for Sport's finding is expected to be known by Friday.
"It is with significant disappointment that we close this chapter of our club's history and accept that Danny is ineligible to compete at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing," said Mariners executive chairman Lyall Gorman.
"Our club has exhausted every possible avenue of appeal in order to give Danny the best possible chance of fulfilling his Olympic Games ambition and unfortunately this has not resulted in the desired outcome."
"As we have maintained from day one, we do not condone in any fashion any player making contact with a match official and while we feel that the sanction for this unfortunate incident far exceeds the crime, it is now time to accept the umpire's decision and that of FIFA and the Court of Arbitration for Sport and move on."