Suarez banned and thrown out

URUGUAY’S star striker Luis Suarez has been thrown out of the World Cup and banned for four months from football after he bit an opponent.

He bit Italy’s Giorgio Chiellini during their crucial first round clash that sent the Italians packing.

The ban from all “football related activities” means the Liverpool player will not just miss the rest of the World Cup, but also nine premier league matches and three Champions League games. He has also been banned from the next nine international matches, starting with Saturday’s last 16 clash between Uruguay and Colombia and ordered to pay a fine of around €82,500.

FIFA has taken a very dim view of the incident, the third biting scandal of Suarez’s career, leading to the unprecedented ban. He will be unable to play or train for either his club or country or even enter a football stadium.

Claudio Sulser, chair of the FIFADisciplinaryCommittee said: “Such behaviour cannot be tolerated on any football pitch, and in particular not at a World Cup when the eyes of millions of people are on the stars.”

He added: “The committee took into account all the factors of the case and the degree of Mr Suarez’s guilt in accordance with the relevant provisions of the code. The decision comes into force as soon it is communicated.”

Uruguay can appeal against the ban, but that would probably not be enough to let him play on Saturday. The ban came in with immediate effect, and an appeal does not suspend the sentence until it is heard.

FIFA added that the ban would not prevent any possible transfer of Suarez who is speculated to be a target for Real Madrid and Barcelona.