On the weekend, Liverpool striker Luis Suarez was caught on camera taking a bite out of Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic. Today the FA has come down harshly on the 26 year old Uruguay international, handing him a 10 game ban for the incident.
Suarez will miss the final four games of this season, and the first six games of next year.
The bite went undetected by the referees, and the assistants, leading to Suarez staying in the game and scoring the tying goal in a 2-2 draw between Chelsea and Liverpool.
The FA released the following statement:
“A three-person independent regulatory commission today upheld the FA’s claim that a suspension of three matches was clearly insufficient and the player will serve a further seven first-team matches in addition to the standard three. The suspension begins with immediate effect.
“The Liverpool forward had accepted a charge of violent conduct but had denied the FA’s claim that the standard three-match sanction was insufficient for the offence.
“The incident was not seen by the match officials and has therefore been retrospectively reviewed.
“Suarez has until midday on Friday 26 April to appeal [against] the additional suspension, above the standard three matches.”
Liverpool FC released a statement from managing director Ian Ayre saying:
“Both the club and player are shocked and disappointed at the severity of today’s independent regulatory commission decision.
“We await the written reasons tomorrow before making any further comment.”
This is not Suarez’s first incident involving biting. In 2010 he was banned for 7 games in the Dutch league while playing for Ajax. He bit PSV Eindhoven’s Otman Bakkal during a match in November 2010. After the incident, Suarez was known as the cannibal in footballing circles.
With 23 goals in this campaign, Suarez sat just 1 behind Manchester United’s Robin Van Persie for the EPL goal scoring crown. This ban takes away any chance he had of overtaking RVP and winning the award. Suarez has also been named a finalist for player of the year, though how much this incident will cloud his candidacy remains to be seen.
Liverpool currently sit 7th in the table, 5 points behind Everton for sixth place.
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Photo Credit: flair.wittysparks.com, CC
