In his defence: Uruguay fans gather to express solidarity with player Luis Suarez while they await his arrival outside Montevideo's Carrasco international airport after he banned from the World Cup for biting a player
- Liverpool and Uruguay striker Suarez banned from football for four months
- He will miss Uruguay's next nine Fifa internationals and was fined £65,000
- Uruguay FA has confirmed it will be appealing the 'excessive' decision
- Gambling firm 888 poker severs ties with Suarez 'with immediate effect'
- Suarez's grandmother says he was thrown out of World Cup 'like a dog'
Giorgio Chiellini, the Italian defender who Luis Suarez bit, has hit out at the Uruguay striker's four month ban, calling it 'excessive'.
The defender spoke after hundreds of fans, including the country's president Jose Mujica, gathered outside Montevideo's Carrasco international airport to await the player's arrival before he was due to head home to the resort of Solymar, around 25 miles outside the city.
Many were carrying Uruguay flags, posters and replicas of the World Cup trophy - but a few couldn't resist wearing a set of fangs to welcome him back.
Suarez was given a nine-match international ban by FIFA as well as a four month ban from all football, as well as a £66,000 fine, for the incident, which happened during Uruguay's 1-0 win over Italy in the World Cup group stages.
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Fang-tastic: A child shows his support for Uruguay striker Luis Suarez by wearing toy plastic vampire's teeth as he waits for the player to arrive back home
Chiellini, who had kept silent since Tuesday, said on his website: 'At the moment my only thought is for Luis and his family, because they will face a very difficult time.
'I have always considered unequivocal the disciplinary interventions by the competent bodies, but at the time time I believe that the proposed formula is excessive.'
Suarez's grandmother has jumped to the striker's defence over the 'barbaric' treatment she claims he has suffered at the hands of the footballing authorities.
Lila Piriz Da Rosa wept as she accused Fifa of throwing the Uruguyan out of the World Cup 'like a dog' after handing him a lengthy ban for biting an Italian defender.
Meanwhile, 888 poker announced today that it was severing ties with the striker with immediate effect.
The move followed a decision by sports manufacturer Adidas not to use Suarez for 'additional marketing' during the World Cup, although the firm said it would not immediately drop him as a client.
Fifa banned Suarez from nine international matches as well as four months of all football after he gnawed the shoulder of Chiellini in the 80th minute of their World Cup clash.
Mrs Da Rosa claimed the authorities had kept 'their eyes on' the 27-year-old, who has been banned twice before for biting players, from the start of the tournament.
She told Sky News: 'They chucked him out of there like a dog.
'Everyone knows what they've done to Luis. They wanted him out of the World Cup. It's barbaric what they've done to him.'
Diego Maradona, who lifted the World Cup with Argentina in 1986, also came to Suarez's defence, comparing the ban to a sentence in Guantanamo Bay prison camp.
'The Fifa sanction is shameful, they have no sensitivity towards the fans, they might as well handcuff him and throw him in Guantanamo,' he said on a TV show while wearing a t-shirt with the slogan ‘Luis, we are with you’.
Yesterday, the first pictures of Suarez emerged since he received his ban.
The disgraced striker looked dejected at the team's hotel in Natal, Brazil, as fans in the street mocked an advert for Adidas by putting their arms in his mouth.
Today, 888 poker followed suit, saying in a statement: '888poker signed Luis Suarez following a fantastic season for which his achievements were widely recognized.
'Regrettably, following his actions during Uruguay’s World Cup match against Italy on Tuesday, 888poker has decided to terminate its relationship with Luis Suarez with immediate effect.'
'Barbaric': Luis Suarez's grandmother has jumped to the striker's defence over the treatment she claims he has suffered at the hands of the footballing authorities
Support: A Uruguay fan shows a sign in solidarity with player Luis Suarez while waiting for his arrival outside Montevideo's Carrasco international airport
Luis, we are with you: Diego Maradona compared Suarez's ban to a prison sentence in Guantanamo Bay prison camp
The ban will mean Suarez misses the rest of the international tournament, including Uruguay's last 16 match against Colombia on Saturday, and the start of the Premier League next season.
A four-month ban from all football activity means Suarez will also not be able to play for his club Liverpool until October 26.
Unless there are changes to Liverpool's fixture schedule he would miss nine Premier League games and the first match he would be eligible for would be at Newcastle United on November 1.
It also stops him from even training with Liverpool until the ban ends in late October.
Claudio Sulser, chairman of the Fifa disciplinary committee, said: 'Such behavior cannot be tolerated on any football pitch and in particular not at a Fifa World Cup, when the eyes of millions of people are on the stars on the field.'
Bye bye Suarez: The first photos have emerged of the Uruguay striker in Natal, Brazil, since he received his ban
Little comfort: Suarez was seen embracing a member of coaching staff on a balcony at the team's hotel
The nine-game ban will serve during Uruguay's next nine fixtures, including the game against Colombia.
By banning Suarez from all football activities, Fifa also prohibited Suarez from even entering a stadium at the World Cup.
The four-month ban is likely to include Liverpool's first three Champions League group-stage games in the five-time European champion's return after a five-year absence.
Suarez will also miss the first nine matches of the Premier League and has been ruled out of next year's Copa America.
Officials also fined the Liverpool striker 100,000 Swiss francs, equivalent to £65,000.
Please don't eat me! Suarez's mockery continued as fans hijacked an advert on the streets of Rio de Janiero
Cannibal: Football-lovers in the city imitated Italian defender Giorgio Chiellini with his injured shoulder
Biting humour: Aside from facing the world's mockery, Suarez will also miss several crucial matches
Fischer said Suarez would still be allowed transfer to a different club during the ban, but would not be able to play for a new club until the sanction ends.
Fischer said any appeal must first go to the Fifa appeal committee. If rejected, Suarez and Uruguay could take the case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne, Switzerland.
At CAS, Suarez could first appeal to have the sanctions frozen during the process which would clear him to return early for Liverpool.
Uruguay FA president Wilmar Valdez said the association would appeal against the Suarez sanctions.
Suarez bit Chiellini as the two competed for a cross during the World Cup match between Uruguay and Italy, a game that Uruguay went on to win
The latest ban marks the third time Suarez has been barred from football for biting - he bit PSV's Otman Bakkal in 2010, and Chelsea's Branislav Ivanovic at the end of the 2012-13 season
SUAREZ: 'THE CANNIBAL OF AJAX'
Suarez has a highly controversial history as a player.
In 2010 he earned the nickname the cannibal of Ajx after drawing blood from the shoulder of PSV Eindhoven's Otman Bakkal, receiving a seven match ban.
At the end of the 2012-13 season he was banned from another ten games after biting Chelsea's Branislav Ivanovic on the forearm.
In 2011, Suárez received an eight-match ban and was fined for racially abusing French defender Patrice Evra in a match against Manchester United after calling him a 'Negro' or 'Negros' seven times during the game.
In another 2010 incident Suarez was guilty of pulling off one of the World Cup's most glaring fouls when he cleared a goal-bound header from Ghana off the line with his hand late in extra time.
Suarez was sent off, but hung around near the tunnel to watch Ghana's Asamoah Gyan miss the penalty and then celebrated frantically.
He later boasted: 'Truth is it was worth it.'
Speaking outside the FIFA hotel in Rio, he told reporters: 'We are preparing our appeal now, we have three days to do it.
'It is an excessive decision and there was not enough evidence and I have seen more aggressive incidents recently.
'It is a severe punishment. I don't know exactly which arguments they used but it is a tough punishment for Suarez.
'It's feels like Uruguay has been thrown out of the World Cup.
'We all know what Suarez means to Uruguay and to football around the world - not having Suarez would be a loss to any team.'
Meanwhile Ian Ayre, chief executive officer of Liverpool Football Club, said: 'The club will wait until we have seen and had time to review the FIFA Disciplinary Committee report before making any further comment.'
The club are understood to be taking specialist advice - which includes legal counsel - over what they see as an unprecedented incident.
Elsewhere Suarez's sponsor Adidas said in a statement: 'Adidas fully supports Fifa's decision. Adidas certainly does not condone Luis Suarez's recent behaviour.
'We will again be reminding him of the high standards we expect from our players. We have no plan to use Suarez for any additional marketing activities during the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
'We will discuss all aspects of our future partnership directly with Suarez and his team following the World Cup.'
While the ban does not stop Suarez from moving teams this summer, it is expected complicate a rumoured move to FC Barcelona.
The latest ban marks the third time that the married father-of-two has been barred from playing because of biting.
He was suspended for seven games in 2010 after biting down on the shoulder of PSV Eindhoven’s Otman Bakkal while playing for Dutch club Ajax in 2010.
At the end of the 2012-13 season he was banned for a further ten games after biting Chelsea's Branislav Ivanovic on the forearm.
In total Suarez has now missed 39 games from biting alone, more than a full season's worth of fixtures.
The Uruguayan, who scored the two goals that effectively ended England’s World Cup hopes, was watched by millions of TV viewers plunging his mouth towards Chiellini’s shoulder on Tuesday night.
The Italian player pulled down his shirt to reveal a red bite mark, but the referee took no action and Suarez was allowed to continue playing.
Uruguay then scored to go through to the tournament’s knock-out stages at Italy’s expense.
Suarez’s lawyer yesterday claimed that European football chiefs were trying to have the striker banned. Alejandro Balbi told Uruguayan radio: ‘We don’t have any doubts that this has happened because it’s Suarez and secondly because Italy was eliminated.
'There’s a lot of pressure from England and Italy.’
The lawyer, who is a board member of Uruguay’s football association, also suggested Suarez was being targeted because he threatened other nations’ chances of winning the World Cup, including those of hosts Brazil.
Defending himself after the game, Suarez said: 'These are things that happen on the pitch, we were both in the area, he thrust his shoulder into me.
'These things happen on the pitch, and we don't have to give them so much (importance).'
WHAT ARE THE RULES? HOW FIFA FOUND AGAINST LUIS SUAREZ
Fifa found Suarez breached articles 48 and 57 of the Disciplinary Code in deciding his ban, and Article 136 explains how he was banned from all football.
48 - MISCONDUCT AGAINST OPPONENTS OR PERSONS OTHER THAN MATCH OFFICIALS
(1) Including the automatic suspension incurred in accordance with art. 18 par. 4, any recipient of a direct red card shall be suspended as follows:
a) one match for denying the opposing team a clear goal-scoring opportunity (particularly by deliberately handling the ball);
b) at least one match for serious foul play (particularly in the case of excessive or brute force);
c) at least one match for unsporting conduct towards an opponent or a person other than a match official (subject to art. 53, 54 and 57-60);
d) at least two matches for assaulting (elbowing, punching, kicking etc.) an opponent or a person other than a match official;
e) at least six matches for spitting at an opponent or a person other than a match official.
(2) A fine may also be imposed in all cases.
(3) The right is reserved to punish an infringement in accordance with art. 77 a).
57 - OFFENSIVE BEHAVIOUR AND FAIR PLAY
Anyone who insults someone in any way, especially by using offensive gestures or language, or who violates the principles of fair play or whose behaviour is unsporting in any other way may be subject to sanctions in accordance with art. 10 ff.
136 - REQUEST
(1) If the infringement is serious, in particular but not limited to doping (cf. art. 63), unlawfully infl uencing match results (cf. art. 69), misconduct against match officials (cf. art. 49), forgery and falsification (cf. art. 61) or violation of the rules governing age limits (cf. art. 68 a), the associations, confederations, and other organising sports bodies shall request Fifa to extend the sanctions they have imposed so as to have worldwide effect.
(2) Any doping-related legally binding sanction imposed by another international sports association, national anti-doping organisation or any other state body that complies with fundamental legal principles shall automatically be adopted by Fifa and, provided that the requirements described hereunder are met, may in principle be extended by Fifa to have worldwide effect.
(3) The request shall be submitted in writing and enclose a certified copy matching the decision. It shall show the name and address of the person who has been sanctioned and that of the club and the association concerned.
(4) If the judicial bodies of Fifa discover that associations, confederations and other sports organisations have not requested a decision to be extended to have worldwide effect, these bodies may themselves pass a decision.
(1) Including the automatic suspension incurred in accordance with art. 18 par. 4, any recipient of a direct red card shall be suspended as follows:
a) one match for denying the opposing team a clear goal-scoring opportunity (particularly by deliberately handling the ball);
b) at least one match for serious foul play (particularly in the case of excessive or brute force);
c) at least one match for unsporting conduct towards an opponent or a person other than a match official (subject to art. 53, 54 and 57-60);
d) at least two matches for assaulting (elbowing, punching, kicking etc.) an opponent or a person other than a match official;
e) at least six matches for spitting at an opponent or a person other than a match official.
(2) A fine may also be imposed in all cases.
(3) The right is reserved to punish an infringement in accordance with art. 77 a).
57 - OFFENSIVE BEHAVIOUR AND FAIR PLAY
Anyone who insults someone in any way, especially by using offensive gestures or language, or who violates the principles of fair play or whose behaviour is unsporting in any other way may be subject to sanctions in accordance with art. 10 ff.
136 - REQUEST
(1) If the infringement is serious, in particular but not limited to doping (cf. art. 63), unlawfully infl uencing match results (cf. art. 69), misconduct against match officials (cf. art. 49), forgery and falsification (cf. art. 61) or violation of the rules governing age limits (cf. art. 68 a), the associations, confederations, and other organising sports bodies shall request Fifa to extend the sanctions they have imposed so as to have worldwide effect.
(2) Any doping-related legally binding sanction imposed by another international sports association, national anti-doping organisation or any other state body that complies with fundamental legal principles shall automatically be adopted by Fifa and, provided that the requirements described hereunder are met, may in principle be extended by Fifa to have worldwide effect.
(3) The request shall be submitted in writing and enclose a certified copy matching the decision. It shall show the name and address of the person who has been sanctioned and that of the club and the association concerned.
(4) If the judicial bodies of Fifa discover that associations, confederations and other sports organisations have not requested a decision to be extended to have worldwide effect, these bodies may themselves pass a decision.
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