Uruguay’s Luis Suarez Takes Bite out of Opponent,Again!

24 Jun, 2014

Uruguay’s Luis Suarez could be banned from the World Cup for the second successive tournament after he bit Italian defender Giorgio Chiellini on the shoulder during the South Americans’ 1-0 win on Tuesday.

FIFA is investigating the incident which has become a worldwide talking point, and Suarez, twice previously banned for biting, looks likely to be hit with another lengthy suspension despite escaping punishment during the match.

“We are awaiting the official match reports and will gather all the necessary elements in order to evaluate the matter,” a FIFA spokesperson said. Suarez and Chiellini clashed in the Italian penalty area 10 minutes from the end of the match which sealed Uruguay’s progression and Italy’s elimination from the tournament.

Chiellini furiously pulled open his shirt to show the mark to the referee. Reuters photographs show what appeared to be bite marks on his shoulder and pictures also showed Suarez sitting on the ground holding his teeth immediately after the incident.

The Italians were still complaining about it when Uruguay’s Diego Godin scored with an 81st-minute header to secure the win. “It was ridiculous not to send Suarez off,” Chiellini told Rai TV. “It is clear, clear-cut and then there was the obvious dive afterwards because he knew very well that he did something that he shouldn’t have done.”

Suarez contested that version of events, however. “Those are situations that happen on the pitch. We were both just there inside the area. He shoved me with his shoulder, and my eye got left like that also,” he said in reference to Chiellini’s mark.

Liverpool’s Suarez was banned for 10 games last year after biting Chelsea’s Branislav Ivanovic in a Premier League match and in 2010 he was suspended for seven games for biting PSV Eindhoven’s Otman Bakkal while playing for Ajax Amsterdam.

He missed Uruguay’s World Cup semi-final against the Netherlands four years ago after being sent off for a handball on the line that denied Ghana what would have been a match-winning goal in the final minute of extra time in a quarter-final match.

Although he was not cautioned by the referee on Tuesday, FIFA’s rules allow the use of video or “any other evidence” to retrospectively punish players.

FIFA’s disciplinary code sets a maximum ban of 24 matches or two years, but the longest suspension FIFA has imposed for an offence in the World Cup was eight games for Italy’s Mauro Tassotti for breaking Spain’s Luis Enrique’s nose in 1994 with an elbow.

Reuters

Image MATTHIAS HANGST

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