Luis Suarez bite: Uruguay striker banned for four months

Sport
Uruguay striker Luis Suarez has been suspended from all football-related activity for four months for biting Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini.

Uruguay striker Luis Suarez has been suspended from all football-related activity for four months for biting Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini.

Luis Suarez appears to bite Giergio Chiellini
Uruguay striker Luis Suarez has been banned for biting twice in his career

The Liverpool player, 27, has also been banned for nine international matches, ruling him out of the rest of the 2014 Fifa World Cup.

He will also miss the first nine games of the Premier League season.

The incident occurred during Tuesday’s 2014 Fifa World Cup Group D game, which Uruguay won to qualify for the last 16.

Uruguay have three days to appeal against the decision.

Suarez has also been fined 100,000 Swiss francs (£65,680).

The ban is the biggest in World Cup history, beating the eight games given to Italy’s Mauro Tassotti for elbowing Spain’s Luis Enrique in 1994.

“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,” Claudio Sulser, chairman of the Fifa disciplinary committee, said in a statement.

Suarez’s first match back for Liverpool could be in round four of the Capital One Cup, with matches due to take place in the week commencing 27 October.

Liverpool would have to win their third-round tie in September to reach that stage.

Suarez has now been found guilty of biting three opponents in his career.

World Cup 2014: Uruguay forward Luis Suarez
World Cup 2014: Uruguay’s Luis Suarez appears to bite Chiellini

He was banned for 10 games for biting Chelsea’s Branislav Ivanovic during a Premier League match in 2013 and was also suspended for seven games for biting PSV Eindhoven’s Otman Bakkal in 2010.

Liverpool issued a statement shortly after news of Suarez’s ban emerged.

“Liverpool Football Club will wait until we have seen and had time to review the Fifa Disciplinary Committee report before making any further comment,” chief executive Ian Ayre said.

Under the terms of the ban, Suarez is prohibited from entering the confines of any stadium during the period of his suspension.

But Liverpool would not be prevented from selling the former Ajax player this summer should they decide to offload him to another club.

He has already been linked with moves to Real Madrid and Barcelona.