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Wednesday, June 25, 2014

What Now For Luis Suarez?


The 2014 World Cup has gotten all the attention for the goals, the fans and the shocks so far. Sadly, like previous tournaments, it is now getting the attention for the wrong reasons, a controversial moment, a moment of madness.

Not for the first time, Uruguay's mercurial striker, Luis Suarez is in the bad books of the World Cup, but this time, his punishment could be quite substantial.


Last time, it was his hand that was the talking point, stopping a certain Ghanaian winner right on the line in extra-time of that epic quarterfinal. He was sent off, missed the semifinal against the Dutch and was vilified as a cheat in the world media.

This time, it will be his teeth that will be in the spotlight - and sadly it won't be the first time, that Suarez is in the spotlight for biting an opponent on the field, having incredibly already done it twice at club level for Ajax Amsterdam and Liverpool.


It is so frustrating to see such a player of remarkable talent and ability throw all that hard work away and those good memories with such a moment of inexplicable madness - and just wrong on so many levels.


What's sad is that he has been banned in the past for biting - his most recent one being for Liverpool when he bit Branislav Ivanovic at the end of the 2012-13 season. Given FIFA has now started investigating the moment Suarez sunk his teeth into Giorgio Chiellini, expect huge ramifications for club and country in the days to come.


In the short term, Uruguay could lose a player who has been key in sparking their mid-tournament revival and got them to the 2nd round after a disastrous start, losing to Costa Rica.


In the long term, Liverpool could lose a player who was top scorer in the Premier League last season for a maximum of 2 years - effectively rendering him worthless, a dead duck in the team even if the club do choose to keep him to support him through a long rehab process. Just as Brendan Rodgers thought he had the formula for league success, he might very well have to start looking at a world class striker - perhaps a Colombian or two might do.



Whatever happens, Luis Suarez deserves to be kicked out of the World Cup, he does not deserves his place in a tournament that has dazzled so far. Let's hope FIFA does the right thing and shows that it will not tolerate such behaviour. Just as eye-gouging and spear tackling are not on in rugby, likewise biting in football - or for that matter in any grown-up sport.

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