RIO DE JANEIRO - FIFA on Thursday banned Uruguay striker Luis Suarez for nine international matches and barred him from all football activities for four months for biting an Italian opponent. The heaviest punishment ever inflicted on a player at a World Cup finals effectively booted Suarez out of the tournament in shame following his clash with Italy's Giorgio Chiellini on Tuesday.
It is the third time that the 27-year-old Liverpool forward, one of the most brilliant footballers in the world, but also one of the most temperamental, has been banned for biting an opponent. "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 FIFA Disciplinary Committee chairman Claudio Sulser in a statement.
"The Disciplinary Committee took into account all the factors of the case and the degree of Mr Suarez's guilt in accordance with the relevant provisions of the (FIFA disciplinary) code," he added. The nine match ban would be effective immediately, ruling him out of Uruguay's World Cup second round match on Saturday against Colombia, FIFA spokeswoman Delia Fischer said. As part of the ban on football activities, Suarez will not be allowed into a stadium for four months. He was also fined 100,000 Swiss francs (82,000 euros, $112,000). FIFA said that Suarez was told of the ban on Thursday. Uruguayan officials had previously insisted there was not enough evidence to take action against him. Suarez bit Chiellini during Uruguay's 1-0 win over Italy in World Cup Group D on Tuesday.
The referee did not immediately see the incident but FIFA ordered an inquiry straight after the match following protests by Chiellini, who claimed he was bitten and who showed off teeth marks on his shoulder. Images of the bite spread on the internet. Suarez had initially shrugged off the incident. "These are just things that happen out on the pitch. It was just the two of us inside the area and he bumped into me with his shoulder," Suarez told Uruguayan television.
Suarez was dubbed 'the cannibal of Ajax' after he bit PSV Einhoven's Otman Bakkal shoulder in a Dutch league game in November 2010. Suarez was later handed a seven game ban. In April 2013, he bit Chelsea's Branislav Ivanovic's on the arm in a Premier League match. He was given a 10 game suspension for that offence. His ban will run until the end of October, meaning he would miss around two months of the 2014/15 Premier League season.
Uruguayans react angrily
Uruguayans reacted angrily after FIFA suspended their star striker Suarez with many slamming the ban as exaggerated, hypocritical, or even biased. "They're acting as if he were a criminal, a terrorist," said Maria Cardozo, a 48 year-old administrative worker. "They're exaggerating the aggression although I do think it warranted some sort of punishment."
But in small, football-crazed Uruguay, the Liverpool forward is a major hero that his compatriots have passionately defended him. Some were quickly calling foul on Thursday and blasting global soccer body FIFA's judgment, which leaves Uruguay without its main scorer against Colombia on Saturday in the first knockout round. "I don't want to get into conspiracy theories, but it seems that FIFA isn't interested in letting small countries such as Uruguay advance," said 62 year-old lawyer Andres Ramirez.
Local media have lashed out at a British-led 'manhunt' against him, and even leftist president Jose Mujica spoke up for Suarez to be left alone. "What is incomprehensible is the vitriol with which the English press, in particular, have gone after the Uruguayan. Far worse things have happened on the pitch, even where English players are concerned," said Uruguayan Andreas Campomar, author of "Golazo! A History of Latin American Football".
There are, however, some contrary views at home too. Alcides Ghiggia, the man who scored the winning goal for Uruguay in the 1950 World Cup against Brazil, had told Reuters Suarez deserved a ban. "I don't know what this kid thinks and what goes through his head... Whether you're Uruguayan or of an other nationality, you always have to reproach these things on the field, this is not a war."