Luis Suarez has received the longest World Cup suspension in soccer history, as FIFA announced on Thursday that the Uruguay star has been banned nine international matches for biting Italy’s Giorgio Chiellini on the shoulder earlier this week.
In addition to the nine-game international suspension, Suarez has also been banned from all soccer-related activity for four months. He will be allowed to play in friendly matches.
“Such behavior cannot be tolerated on any football pitch and particularly at the World Cup,” FIFA disciplinary chairman Claudio Sulser said, via CBSSports.com.
With the punishment, Suarez is guaranteed to miss the remainder of the 2014 World Cup. He could miss over a year of international matches, depending how far Uruguay advances in the tournament. He will also miss the first two months of the English Premier League schedule and will not be able to play in matches for Liverpool during that time. He will likely miss up to nine Premier League games and three Champions League matches before he can start practicing again.
As our full history of Suarez biting opponents shows you, he obviously has a serious problem. Suarez is one of the better strikers in the world, but his disturbing behavior will always be a dark cloud over his career.
