He was found guilty of misconduct following an independent disciplinary committee investigation and has also been suspended for nine Uruguay matches (that includes a stadium ban) and fined 100,000 Swiss francs.
In a statement, Claudio Sulser, chairman of the Fifa Disciplinary Committee, said: “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.”
After the Group D clash which Uruguay won 1-0 to get through to the last 16, Suarez was defiant while the rest of the Uruguay camp tried their best to play down the incident, banning questions about Suarez (and the use of English) in press conferences.
“These are just things that happen out on the pitch,” Suarez said in one post-match interview. “It was just two of us inside the area and he bumped into me with his shoulder.”
Even Uruguay’s President was in on the act. “I did not see him bite anyone. But they give each other so many kicks and blows and normally they put up with it,” President Jose Mujica told reporters, describing the Liverpool man as “an excellent player.”
Fifa obviously doesn’t agree, having dealt with the matter quickly and efficiently so our focus returns to what’s happening on the pitch.
His country has three days to appeal the ban, which will see him miss the first nine games of the Premier League season (sorry Liverpool fans).
A Suarez-less Uruguay will face Columbia in the last 16.
Image via Getty
