It wasn’t me.
Luis Suarez’ wife, Sofia, was surely hoping to hear from her husband, in June 2014, when she caught glimpse of a bevvy of irate Italians around him.
The Uruguayan striker was accused of biting Italy’s Giorgio Chellini on the shoulder during a World Cup clash.
He escaped sanctions on the pitch but the mark on Chilleni’s shoulder and TV footage of the incident appeared conclusive.
Suarez denied the allegations for a couple of days and claimed he had, in fact, fallen into the Italian’s shoulder. When he spoke to his wife, soon after, he stuck to the story.
In an interview with Fox Sports Radio, this week, Suarez admits that he could not tell his wife the full truth of what happened. It took 10 days before he ‘fessed up.
The odds were stacked against Suarez and FIFA, going off Chellini’s words and the TV evidence, handed down a nine-match international ban and four months ban from involvement in ‘football activity’. That did not stop his successful move to Barcelona but meant he could not take part in this year’s Copa America.
Suarez is less than pleased with FIFA for their ‘excessive’ sanctions.
He commented, ‘I realised what I had done was wrong and I knew what could happen.
‘In my view, FIFA’s Disciplinary Committee know my ban was excessive and at some point I’d love them to apologise and admit it was the wrong punishment, just as I admitted when I was wrong.’
