Luis Suarez Comments on FIFA, Ban for Biting Incident in New Book

In a tell-all extract from his autobiography, Crossing The Line: My Story, Luis Suarez recounts his run-ins with UEFA and gives another side of the story regarding his numerous biting incidents.

The Guardian provides an exclusive preview of the Barcelona and Uruguay striker's new book, where he shares his own truths related to the offence at this past summer's World Cup, leading to a four-month ban from football:

"

I had let people down. My coach Óscar Tabárez, “El Maestro”, was in a bad way in the dressing room. I couldn’t look at my team-mates. I didn’t know how I could say sorry to them.

[...]

Just as we finished the session, the Maestro called me over. He had news: “This is the worst thing that I have ever had to tell a player.” At that moment, I thought maybe the ban would be 10, 15 or even 20 games, but then he said, “Nine matches.” That didn’t seem any worse than I had feared. But he wasn’t finished: “And you can’t set foot in any stadium. You have to leave now. You can’t be anywhere near the squad.”

[...]

Had the ban stopped at nine Uruguay matches, I would have understood it. But banning me from playing for Liverpool, when my bans in England never prevented me from playing for Uruguay? Banning me from all stadiums worldwide? Telling me I couldn’t go to work? Stopping me from even jogging around the perimeter of a football pitch? It still seems incredible to me that, until the Court of Arbitration for Sport decreed otherwise, Fifa’s power actually went that far.

"

Suarez goes on to compare Zinedine Zidane's head-butt on Italy's Marco Materazzi in the 2006 World Cup final with his own offence, citing that the former French wonder only received a three-match ban.

The comparison may be a fair one had Zidane been caught head-butting players in the chest on multiple occasions prior to that during his career, but Suarez is unique in that regard. He added:

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I know biting appals a lot of people, but it’s relatively harmless. Or at least it was in the incidents I was involved in. When Ivanovic rolled up his sleeve to show the referee the mark at Anfield, there was virtually nothing there. None of the bites has been like Mike Tyson on Evander Holyfield’s ear. But none of this makes it right.

"

It's somewhat surprising to see the former Liverpool hitman making what are essentially excuses for an inexcusable crime in football. The South American admits it is not right and yet contradicts that admission in using descriptions such as "relatively harmless."

Those who have encountered him, Giorgio Chiellini and Branislav Ivanovic included, may not be as easily passive on the matter.

Manu Fernandez/Associated Press

So rare is the case of biting in football that before Suarez became a household name, there wasn't so much as an utterance of it occurring in the sport. 

All of a sudden, we now have one of the most talented figures in the game who's so permanently attached to the stigma and is likely to remain so for the rest of his career, according to ESPN's John Brewin:

The 2013-14 Golden Shoe winner is looking to get past all that now, though. In Spain, Suarez has a fresh start, having sealed a £75 million switch to Barcelona over the summer.

And Saturday brings with it Suarez's first game since his ban ended on Friday, October 24, an El Clasico fixture that would provide him the ideal stage on which to instantly make himself a hero to the Blaugrana.

Steadily, Suarez does say that he's progressing, too, albeit slow progress down the decades if his description is accurate:

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It seems strange to say it after a third incident, but I have improved, I am calmer. When I was a kid, I got sent off for headbutting a referee: I ran 50m to argue a decision, I was shown a red card and I headbutted him. I’m really not proud of that.

"

Fortunately for him, no head-butts have clouded Suarez's professional career, and Luis Enrique will be at the top of the list comprising those who want to see the forward leave controversy in his past.

However, for some, it's only natural, and the fire which makes Suarez so devastating on the pitch also brings with it a temper that makes him too hot for any to handle at times.