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Luis Suárez banned for four months for biting opponent in World Cup clash Luis Suárez banned for four months for biting opponent in World Cup clash
(34 minutes later)
Fifa’s independent disciplinary committee has banned Luis Suárez from all football-related activity for four months after he was seen biting Italy’s Giorgio Chiellini. In an unprecedented move Fifa has banned Uruguay’s Luis Suárez from all “football-related activities” for four months for biting Italy’s Giorgio Chiellini, ruling him out of the rest of the World Cup and the start of the domestic season.
The decision means the Liverpool striker, who has also been fined £66,000, will miss the rest of Uruguay’s World Cup campaign and the start of the domestic season. He is banned from Uruguay’s next nine competitive matches in total, and from entering any stadium during this period. The Liverpool striker will not be able to play or train for his club or country for four months after Fifa’s disciplinary committee handed down the hefty sanction, which is sure to provoke dismay from both Uruguay and Liverpool.
Uruguay’s FA are able to appeal against the sanctions, but even if the appeal is lodged and the process is under way he will not be able play in any matches. The biting incident, the third in which Suárez has been involved in his career, has also led Fifa’s disciplinary committee to ban the player from even entering any football stadium during the ban.
Claudio Sulser, chairman of the committee, said: “Such behaviour cannot be tolerated on any football pitch, and in particular not at a Fifa World Cup when the eyes of millions of people are on the stars on the field. Suárez has also been banned for nine competitive international matches, beginning with Uruguay’s last-16 clash with Colombia on Saturday, and fined £66,000.
“The Disciplinary Committee took into account all the factors of the case and the degree of Mr Suárez’s guilt in accordance with the relevant provisions of the code. The decision comes into force as soon it is communicated.” However, Fifa clarified that Suarez’s ban from all “administrative” tasks related to football did not block any possible transfer from Liverpool during the period.
Speaking before the verdict was announced, Suárez’s lawyer, Alejandro Balbi, claimed there was a European campaign against the Liverpool striker being led by England and Italy, while Uruguay’s FA suggested that pictures of teeth-marks on Chiellini’s shoulder were digitally altered. “Such behaviour cannot be tolerated on any football pitch, and in particular not at a Fifa World Cup when the eyes of millions of people are on the stars on the field,” said Claudio Sulser, the chair of the disciplinary committee, which met late into the night at the Sofitel Hotel on Copacabana.
Balbi told Uruguayan radio: “We don’t have any doubts that this has happened because it’s Suárez involved and secondly because Italy have been eliminated. There’s a lot of pressure from England and Italy. We’re convinced that it was an absolutely casual play, because if Chiellini can show a scratch on one shoulder, Suárez can show a bruised and an almost closed eye.” “The disciplinary committee took into account all the factors of the case and the degree of Mr Suárez’s guilt in accordance with the relevant provisions of the code. The decision comes into force as soon it is communicated.”
Uruguay won the Group D encounter in Natal 1-0 to secure a last-16 match against Colombia. Suárez defended himself on Uruguayan television after the incident, saying: “These situations happen on the pitch, we were both just inside the area, he struck me in the chest with his shoulder and he hit me in the eye as well.” The ban means that Suárez, who the Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers hailed as a reformed character last season as he won both footballer of the year prizes, will miss nine Premier League matches and three Champions League games.
Chiellini, however, insists that Suárez knew exactly what he was doing and was dismayed that he was not sent off for his apparent actions. Although Uruguay can appeal the decision, it will not stop Suárez being banned from Saturday’s match because under article 124 of the Fifa disciplinary code it does not have a “suspensive effect”.
The defender told Rai TV: “It was ridiculous not to send Suarez off, it is clear, clear-cut and there was the obvious dive afterwards because he knew very well that he did something that he shouldn’t have done.” Before Fifa announced their judgment, the Uruguayan FA and even the country’s president had weighed into the issue in support of Suárez.
More to follow They claimed that Suárez was the target of a conspiracy among the Italians, the English media and the Brazilian hosts to make more of the incident than it warranted.
“You shouldn’t forget that we’re rivals of many and we can be for the hosts [Brazil] in the future. This does not go against what might have happened, but there’s no doubt that Suárez is a stone in the shoe for many,” said Suárez’s lawyer Alejandro Balbi.
But television pictures showing the incident seemed clear. The ban – added to previous penalties for racially abusing Manchester United’s Patrice Evra and for biting Chelsea’s Branislav Ivanovic, mean that he will have been suspended for 34 matches since 2010 without receiving a single red card on the pitch.
Liverpool’s chief executive Ian Ayre said: “Liverpool Football Club will wait until we have seen and had time to review the Fifa Disciplinary Committee report before making any further comment.”