Luis Suarez wrote a dark new chapter in World Cup history by biting Italy's Giorgio Chiellini during the match against Uruguay on Tuesday - and his disgrace will almost certainly land him the longest ban in World Cup history.
WHAT HAPPENED
Suarez clashed with Chiellini with just over 10 minutes to go at the end of the final Group D clash, in which the winning team was assured of a spot in the last 16.
It was clear immediately that this was more than a normal clash in the box between fierce rivals: Chiellini ran to the referee to show him bite marks on his shoulder, and video replays clearly showed the Uruguayan superstar sinking his teeth into the defender's shoulder.
FIFA are investigating the incident - and Suarez, twice previously banned for biting, looks set to be hit with another lengthy suspension despite escaping punishment during the match.
World Cup rules allow the use of video or "any other evidence" to retrospectively punish players, so there is no question that the 27-year-old is facing a long spell out of the game.
HOW LONG CAN HE BE BANNED FOR?
FIFA's disciplinary code allows for a maximum ban of 24 matches or two years - and they do have the power to impose the sanction on all football, worldwide. The longest suspension FIFA has ever imposed for an offence at a World Cup was eight games for Italy's Mauro Tassotti, who broke the nose of Spain's Luis Enrique with an elbow to the face during the 1994 World Cup.
The Liverpool striker's history of biting means that his ban will certainly be longer than Tassotti'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 a similar offence against PSV Eindhoven's Otman Bakkal while playing for Ajax in 2010.
It is also not the first time that he has flouted the rules at the World Cup: four years ago he missed Uruguay's World Cup semi-final against Netherlands after being sent off for a deliberate handball on the line that denied Ghana what would have been a match-winning goal in the final minute of extra time.
The defining moment of the World Cup
Suarez was already assured of a permanent spot in the World Cup hall of shame for his handball against Ghana four years ago; but his latest crime against football has gone far beyond that. What the 'Cannibal of Ajax' did in Natal on Tuesday will become the defining image of the World Cup, just as Harald Schumacher's sickening challenge on Patrick Battiston did in 1982.
The defining moment of the World Cup
Suarez was already assured of a permanent spot in the World Cup hall of shame for his handball against Ghana four years ago; but his latest crime against football has gone far beyond that. What the 'Cannibal of Ajax' did in Natal on Tuesday will become the defining image of the World Cup, just as Harald Schumacher's sickening challenge on Patrick Battiston did in 1982.
Source: Eurosport
No comments:
Post a Comment