Biter’s team is defanged
RECIFE, Brazil — Luis Suarez, the Hannibal Lecter of soccer, was banned by FIFA on Thursday for nine Uruguay matches and four months from any soccer activity — including early season games for the English soccer club Liverpool. In addition, he was fined $112,000, which is the least of his problems. While FIFA might have come down even harder on Suarez, the penalty represented the longest World Cup ban in history for an onfield incident.
It’s the third time he h has served a suspension for biting an opponent.
The Uruguayan star clearly chomped Italian Giorgio Chiellini in the shoulder during a critical group match, but Suarez and the Uruguay federation claimed it was just incidental contact. Suarez and the Uruguayan Football Association also claimed the photos of Chiellini’s shoulder were doctored.
“Such behavior cannot be tolerated on anyfootball pitch and in particularnot at a FIFA World Cup, when the eyes of millions of people are on the stars on the field,” Claudio Sulser, chairman of the FIFA disciplinary committee, said in a statement.
Portugal star Cristiano Ronaldo agreed, adding that he had never been bittenby an opponent.
“But I know that bites hurt,” he said. “My young kids used to bite me and I used to punish them. In my home, punishment is called ‘the dark room with the big bad wolf,’ so I suppose for an adult four monthswith nofootball is the same.”