101 sports updates: FIFA announces 9 games banned on Suárez
RECIFE,
Brazil :
Luis Suárez, the enigmatic striker from Uruguay who has
starred for Liverpool in England’s Premier League, was suspended for
nine games and barred from all soccer-related activities for four months
Thursday after FIFA’s disciplinary committee determined that he bit an
opponent during Uruguay’s 1-0 World Cup victory over Italy.
Suárez, who had previously been suspended twice for biting opponents, was also fined 100,000 Swiss francs, or about $112,000.
FIFA,
soccer’s world governing body, announced the punishment at its daily
World Cup briefing in Rio de Janeiro, taking quick action in response to
Tuesday’s incident. Suárez’s ban is the longest World Cup suspension
issued for an on-field action, surpassing the eight games Mauro Tassotti of Italy received for elbowing an opponent in 1994, and will begin immediately.
If Suárez appeals the decision, the appeal will only delay his payment
of the fine, FIFA said; it will not delay his suspension. So Uruguay,
which faces Colombia in a Round of 16 match on Saturday in Rio, will be
without its top player for the rest of the tournament and beyond.
Liverpool,
the popular Merseyside club that finished second in the Premier League
last season behind 31 goals from Suárez, will not have him available
until the end of October unless his penalty is reduced on appeal.
According to next season’s calendar, Suárez will miss nine Premier League games,
three Champions League matches and one match in the League Cup. He will
also miss Liverpool’s summer tour of the United States, which includes
exhibition games in Charlotte, N.C.; New York; Chicago; and Boston.
The
suspension does not cover a possible transfer — Suárez has been rumored
to be considering a move to Spain — meaning Suárez could switch clubs
during the summer transfer period.
Extending
the ban to cover all soccer activities, including participation with a
club team, was an unusual decision by FIFA, but it showed the
organization’s contempt for Suárez’s actions and possibly for the
earlier incidents.
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| American fan in Rio de janeiro |
“Such
behavior 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, the chairman of the FIFA
disciplinary committee, said in a statement.
The
incident took place near the end of a match in which Uruguay and Italy
struggled to generate attacking chances. Ten minutes before the end of
the game, with the score tied, 0-0, Suárez ran into the penalty area and
collided with Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini. Suárez appeared to drop his face into Chiellini’s shoulder, and Chiellini immediately recoiled as both players fell to the ground.
Chiellini
pulled his shirt collar to the side and tried to show the referee bite
marks on his shoulder while Suárez rolled on the ground, seemingly
feigning a painful injury to his mouth.
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