World Cup: Luis Suarez suspended 9 games, 4 months for biting

FIFA promised to act quickly and swiftly when it came to punishing Uruguay striker Luis Suarez, who appeared to bite defender Giorgio Chiellini in their World Cup group stage finale. Act swiftly FIFA did, suspending Suarez for nine games and four months from all soccer activity.

That would appear to include matches at the club level as well as international.

Not only is this a blow to Uruguay and their World Cup hopes, that nine-game ban would carry over through the remainder of the tournament including the World Cup Final if they were to make it, but it also affects his club team.

It means Suarez will start the Premier League season serving a suspension for biting an opponent for the second consecutive year. Suarez missed the beginning of the 2013-14 season serving a suspension for biting Chelsea’s Branislav Ivanovic.

There is still a chance Liverpool won’t have Suarez next season because of transfer rumors, and his punishment from FIFA will certainly play an impact in any negotiations for his service.

It is hard to imagine Real Madrid and Barcelona’s interest in Suarez not dipping in the wake of his third biting scandal of his career.

[UPDATE:] Here are the exact punishments as outlined by FIFA in a statement:

· The player Luis Suárez is regarded as having breached art. 48 par. 1 lit. d of the FIFA Disciplinary Code (FDC) (assault), and art. 57 of the FDC (an act of unsporting behaviour towards another player).

· The player Luis Suárez is to be suspended for nine (9) official matches. The first match of this suspension is to be served in the upcoming FIFA World Cup™ fixture between Colombia and Uruguay on 28 June 2014. The remaining match suspensions shall be served in Uruguay’s next FIFA World Cup match(es), as long as the team qualifies, and/or in the representative team’s subsequent official matches in accordance with art. 38 par. 2a) of the FDC.

· The player Luis Suárez is banned from taking part in any kind of football-related activity (administrative, sports or any other) for a period of four (4) months in accordance with art. 22 of the FDC.

· A stadium ban is pronounced against the player Luis Suárez in accordance with art. 21 of the FDC as follows: the player Luis Suárez is prohibited from entering the confines of any stadium during the period of the ban (point 3). The player Luis Suárez is prohibited from entering the confines of any stadium in which the representative team of Uruguay is playing while he has to serve the nine-match suspension (point 2).

· The player Luis Suárez is ordered to pay a fine in the amount of CHF 100,000.