Liverpool: Luis Suarez Adds Name to Premier League's Longest Suspensions

Liverpool striker Luis Suarez has received a 10-match suspension from the Football Association for biting Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic during the 2-2 draw at Anfield on Sunday.

The Uruguay international was charged with violent conduct over the incident by the FA, and the governing body has now meted out a hefty ban for the forward.

Suarez apologised for his behaviour after the game, but will now join the ranks of longest suspensions in the English top flight.

The 10-game ban puts Suarez alongside former Southampton midfielder David Prutton, who received the same punishment for shoving referee Alan Wiley during a match against Arsenal in 2005.

Here we look at the even longer suspensions earned by footballers in the Premier League.

Paolo Di Canio, 11 Matches

Sheffield Wednesday striker Paolo Di Canio was not happy after being dismissed during a 1-1 draw with Arsenal at Hillsborough in September 1998, but nobody could predict what would happen next.

After Wednesday's Petter Rudi and the Gunners' Patrick Vieira clashed, a fracas ensued and Di Canio and Martin Keown scuffled.

Referee Paul Alcock showed the former Celtic man the red card for the altercation, but Di Canio shoved the match official. The whistler staggered backward before hitting the ground in a heap.

As a result, Di Canio was handed an 11-match suspension and a £10,000 fine by a Football Association disciplinary commission held at Bramall Lane, the home of Wednesday's city rivals, Sheffield United (BBC Sport).

Joey Barton, 12 Matches

Queens Park Rangers midfielder Joey Barton was the villain of the show as his former club, Manchester City, clinched the Premier League title on the final day of last season.

The former Newcastle man was initially dismissed for an off-the-ball clash with Carlos Tevez, but after receiving the red card, the Loftus Road captain appeared to knee Sergio Aguero in the back of the leg before moving his head toward Vincent Kompany.

Barton received a 12-match suspension, four games for the clash with Tevez, and a further eight matches for the incidents with Aguero and Kompany, which were outside of the jurisdiction of the referee as the player had already been dismissed.

He was also fined six weeks' wages and stripped of the captaincy by QPR, while the FA also fined him £75,000 as part of the punishment (BBC Sport).

Barton joined Olympique de Marseille on a season-long loan at the start of the current Premier League campaign (Daily Mail), but still had to serve the remainder of his suspension before making his debut (Daily Telegraph).

Rio Ferdinand, Eight Months

Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand suffered a costly punishment for missing a routine drugs test in September 2003.

The England international was asked to undergo testing at United's training ground but left Carrington without taking the test. Ferdinand, then 25, claimed he called the club in order to take the test but was told it was too late (BBC Sport).

The FA showed no mercy, however, and banned the former Leeds United defender for eight months, which meant he missed the European Championships in 2004, and fined him £50,000.

Mark Bosnich, Nine Months

Former Chelsea and Manchester United goalkeeper Mark Bosnich saw his career spiral into freefall after being banned for nine months in 2003 for a positive cocaine test.

The Australia international was sacked by the Stamford Bridge club after the Football Association ruled that Bosnich was guilty of improper conduct and had breached the governing body's doping control regulations (BBC Sport).

Bosnich, who won the League Cup with Aston Villa in 1994 and 1996, never played in the Premier League again and was declared bankrupt at the High Court in London in July 2008 (The Sun).

Bosnich, a Premier League winner with United in 2000, returned to Australia in 2008 and is now a football analyst with Fox Sports in his native country.

Eric Cantona, Nine Months

Manchester United forward Eric Cantona holds the dubious record for the most infamous Premier League suspension following his kung-fu kick aimed at a Crystal Palace supporter in January 1995 (The Guardian).

The Frenchman had been dismissed by referee Alan Wilkie after a clash with Palace defender Richard Shaw early in the second period, but it was his walk back to the changing room which would be most remembered from the 1-1 draw.

Cantona was taunted by a Palace fan as he left the field and then launched himself over the advertising hoardings in an attack on the supporter.

The former Leeds man was given a nine-month suspension and a £20,000 fine by the FA and was also sentenced to two weeks in prison by the courts, which was reduced to 120 hours of community service on appeal (BBC News).

Cantona's absence from the United team proved costly as Sir Alex Ferguson missed out to Blackburn Rovers in the Premier League and lost the FA Cup Final to Everton.