Luis Suárez, the Uruguay striker
banned for four months for biting
Giorgio Chiellini , claimed in his
defence to Fifa that the shocking
act was not deliberate and he
simply lost his balance and fell on
to the Italian player with his teeth.
In a defence that makes the “dog
ate my homework” excuse look
plausible, Suárez wrote to Fifa’s
disciplinary panel saying the
incident was an accident. “In no
way it happened how you have
described, as a bite or intent to
bite,” the forward wrote in
Spanish, in a letter dated 25 June
and revealed on Saturday.
“After the impact … I lost my
balance, making my body unstable
and falling on top of my
opponent,” he said in his
submission to the panel, which met
on Wednesday, a day after Uruguay
had beaten Italy 1-0 in a decisive
group-stage match. “At that
moment I hit my face against the
player, leaving a small bruise on
my cheek and a strong pain in my
teeth,” the Liverpool striker said.
The player could be seen holding
his teeth following the incident
with Chiellini but the seven-strong
panel dismissed Suárez’s argument
after studying the incident from 34
camera angles. The bite was
“deliberate, intentional and
without provocation”, the ruling
read. “He bit the player with the
intention of wounding him or at
least of destabilising him.”
Suárez was banned for nine
Uruguay matches and four months
from all football, including
domestic Premier League games for
Liverpool. He was also fined
£66,000. The Uruguayan Football
Association said on Thursday it
would appeal against the ruling and
have a further seven days to
prepare the paperwork.
Fifa’s ruling confirmed the referee,
Marco Rodríguez of Mexico,
acknowledged in his match report
that he missed Suárez’s bite. So did
his two assistants and the fourth
official. “I haven’t seen the
incident because the ball was in
another sector of the pitch,”
Rodríguez admitted in the 11-page
document.
The ban was more severe because
it was not the first time the player
had been involved in a biting
incident. Suárez has received bans
for biting opponents while playing
for Ajax and Liverpool.
Another reason for the
unprecedented punishment was the
Uruguayan showed no repentance
for the incident and previous bans
had not changed his behaviour. “At
no time did the player show any
kind of remorse or admit to any
violation of Fifa rules and
therefore showed no awareness of
having committed any infraction,”
the Fifa document read. The
document showed a proposal for a
six-game ban was considered but
rejected as insufficient. “The
minimum punishment was not
sufficient to have the necessary
dissuasive effect. Previous bans did
not have an effect.”
Suárez, who is back in Uruguay,
where he met the country’s
president and waved to fans from
his balcony, has received plenty of
backing from within Latin America
and tweeted on Saturday to
acknowledge the support : “Hi all, I
write this post to give thanks to
the outpouring of support and love
I am receiving. Both myself and
my family really appreciate it.
Thank you very much for being by
my side and I want to support all
my colleagues selected for the
match against Colombia.”
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