Luis Suárez is waiting to learn whether his latest brush with controversy will result in an extended international suspension which could sideline him from Uruguay's remaining World Cup qualifiers.

The sometimes notoriously short-fused Liverpool striker played for Uruguay in their 2-0 defeat against Chile in Santiago on Tuesday evening when he appeared to aim a punch in the direction of an opponent's face.

Televised replays showed a coming together involving Suárez and Gonzalo Jara, the Chile defender, following which Suárez appeared to aim a blow towards Jara's head.

Although Jara – currently on loan at Nottingham Forest from West Bromwich Albion – did not go to ground, the pair immediately became embroiled in a verbal altercation but the referee, Nestor Pitana, took no action. Pitana did, however subsequently book Suárez for protesting over an unrelated incident, thereby dictating that he will be suspended for Uruguay's next qualifier, against Venezuela.

Depending on the content of the referee's report – which is scheduled to be submitted to Fifa by Thursday – football's international ruling body could take retrospective action over the clash with Jara. The implementation of any sanction will hinge on whether the referee, or any of his officials, saw the exchange or not.

In a statement issued in response to inquires about the Liverpool striker, Fifa said: "We are still collecting all the post-match international reports, since the officials have got 24 hours to send them. Based on the mentioned reports, Fifa will proceed accordingly."

The defeat means Uruguay now occupy sixth place in the group – two places behind Chile – and leaves them outside the top four automatic World Cupqualification places with the much coveted Suárez contemplating missing out on Brazil 2014 in addition to Champions League football with Liverpool next season.