FIFA rejects Luis Suarez’ Appeal
By Opeyemi Oladunjoye
The International Federation of Football Associations, FIFA, has rejected an appeal from the Uruguayan Football Federation to reduce the length of Luis Suarez’s punishment for biting Italy defender, Giorgio Chiellini.
The Liverpool striker was banned for nine international matches and for four months from all football activity, he was also fined 100,000 Swiss francs (£66,000), for the incident which took place in the final match of World Cup Group D.
In a statement released by its head of media, Delia Fischer at a news conference in Rio de Janeiro, the Federation said: “The FIFA appeal committee has decided to reject the appeals lodged by both the Uruguayan player Luis Suarez and the Uruguayan FA, and to confirm the decision rendered by the FIFA disciplinary committee on June 25 2014 in its entirety.
“The terms of the decision taken by the FIFA appeal committee were communicated to the player and the Uruguayan FA today.
Fischer continued: “The relevant decision is not yet final and binding, i.e. an appeal to the Court of Arbitration of Sport is still possible by the player and/or the Uruguayan FA, subject to certain conditions.”
The disciplinary committee’s initial decision was made after taking into account that there had been no remorse from Suarez, and the fact it was the third time he had been involved in biting an opponent.
Suarez scored 30 goals for Liverpool last season and is being linked with a move to Barcelona this summer. If a transfer happens, the 27-year-old would be allowed to complete a medical at the Nou Camp, but would not be allowed to train under the conditions of his four-month exile which ends in october.
