Luis Suarez has received a nine match ban from playing for Uruguay and four months from any football related activity by FIFA for his bite against Italy. The four month ban includes any activities with both Uruguay and his club team Liverpool FC and has gone as far as adding a stadium ban to the punishment. The striker’s first game back if he remains with Liverpool will be against Newcastle on November 1, 2014.
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The Uruguay Football Association and its president Wilmar Valdez has said that the FA will be appealing what he calls an “excessive decision”. Valdez continues to say that compared to Luis Suarez’s actions there “have been more aggressive incidents recently” and that “there was not enough evidence” to make a judgement. Valdez goes on to say that this punishment is “like Uruguay has been thrown out of the World Cup”. While this could be the seen as the usual posturing by a FA protecting its player, it could be that the Uruguayans truly believe this nonsense.
An excerpt from the official FIFA statement:
"“The player Luis Suarez is to be suspended for nine official matches. The first match of this suspension is to be served in the upcoming FIFA World Cup fixture between Colombia and Uruguay on June 28, 2014.The remaining match suspensions shall be served in Uruguay’s next FIFA World Cup match(es), as long as the team (remains in the competition), and/or in the representative team’s subsequent official matches.The player Luis Suarez is banned from taking part in any kind of football-related activity (administrative, sports or any other) for a period of four months.A stadium ban is pronounced against the player Luis Suarez in accordance with article 21 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code as follows: the player Luis Suarez is prohibited from entering the confines of any stadium during the period of the ban,” the statement continued.The player Luis Suarez is prohibited from entering the confines of any stadium in which the representative team of Uruguay is playing while he has to serve the nine-match suspension.The player Luis Suarez is ordered to pay a fine in the amount of 100,000 Swiss Francs.”Source: Sky Sports"
With rumors of a possible transfer for Luis Suarez this could not have come at a worse time for the player. Despite that, this punishment still feels a bit light on someone that is a repeat offender and has shown a disregard for sportsmanship on the pitch. From his three biting incidents to the simulation and the handball against Ghana in 2010, Suarez has put the game and FIFA in disrepute far too many times. A player like that should not be on the pitch no matter how talented he may be.
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Liverpool chief operating officer Ian Ayre said the club would take their time before commenting on the ban, telling the official website: “Liverpool Football Club will wait until we have seen and had time to review the FIFA Disciplinary Committee report before making any further comment.”