The "incident" during the ITA vs. URU match

[Citius Altius Fortius]

What is your opinion?

[Frenchy]

Suarez should be banned for at least 6 months to a year and given an eye watering fine with immediate effect.

The guy's an absolute nutter and he seriously needs to be taught a lesson!!

[DannyelBrazil]

Whatever FIFA decides, I hope they do quickly and end this story as soon as possible.

[StefanMUC]

He should be sent to a mental ward for checking really, given that this has happened for the third time already.

[baron-pierreIV]

Will Chellini get tetanus shots? Uruguay's victory should've been voided.

[adrianme17]

immediate ban from international and national football for a year.

he's a brilliant footballer but this has brought the game into disrepute,

fifa should also take sanctions against the mexican referee who should have done something during the game rather than just ignoring it (maybe there's a directive from maFIFA is not to sanction any bad play by the star players?)!

[Rob2012]

The incident happened away from the ball which was by the touchline. That's where the ref would've been looking. You can't send someone off if none of the officials saw it.

[Palette86]

Ban from 10 international matches + ban from next world cup. Too harsh for him?

[LatinXTC]

Why don't they consider him a permanent ban from the national team? Mike Tyson got banned from professional boxing when he bit the ear of Evander Holyfield. And this isn't Suarez's first time biting someone.

[Faster]

FIFA's max penalty is 24 for matches or 2 years.

[Frenchy]

The incident happened away from the ball which was by the touchline. That's where the ref would've been looking. You can't send someone off if none of the officials saw it.

That's not what happened to Zidane back in 2006.......

[zekekelso]

Why don't they consider him a permanent ban from the national team? Mike Tyson got banned from professional boxing when he bit the ear of Evander Holyfield. And this isn't Suarez's first time biting someone.

To be picky, Mike Tyson has his licence suspended by the state of Nevada in 1997. They restored it in 1998. As far as I know, none of the sanctioning bodies did anything.

[ofan]

That's not what happened to Zidane back in 2006.......

Heading a guy in the chest is much more obvious than biting a guy on the shoulder.

[Frenchy]

Heading a guy in the chest is much more obvious than biting a guy on the shoulder.

The fact is the ref saw nothing and was only informed of the head butt by the fourth referee who told him through his headset......

[Rob2012]

There's an exception to prove every rule

If the ref didn't see the incident because he was looking at where the ball was, there's no way there should be sanctions against him, as Adrian was arguing. What's he supposed to do?

[Tony E Loves Architecture]

Maybe this is a wake up call to Fifa, to bring in Camera Technology for everything. For Fouls, Corners, Handballs, Throw-Ins, Off-Sides and have Camera's everywhere. Suarez should be banned. Biting someone is just too far. Whether the Ref saw it or not, Suarez knows that it is wrong what he done. His done it 3 times now. His been punished before, so he certainly knows it's wrong. Let's see if Fifa act on this. IMO, the punishment should be, a 1 Year Ban from International and Club Football and a £2 Million Fine.

They have the Technology for Goals, so bring it in for the rest. By the way, I must add, I'm a huge fan of the Vanishing Spray.

[baron-pierreIV]

There's an exception to prove every rule

If the ref didn't see the incident because he was looking at where the ball was, there's no way there should be sanctions against him, as Adrian was arguing. What's he supposed to do?

That's NOT the point. We know the ref doesn't have eyes behind his head...but there are what? 24 cameras and the incident was seen by at least 1.5 billion eyes around the world. So how could it be dismissed as 'inconsequential' just because the ref didn't see it? Maybe, it was an orchestrated plot that the Uruguyans would distract the ref while Suarez bit his prey???

The guy has a known record. It's caught on camera. "Didn't see it," Rob, doesn't cut it for me.

[Rob2012]

That's NOT the point. We know the ref doesn't have eyes behind his head...but there are what? 24 cameras and the incident was seen by at least 1.5 billion eyes around the world. So how could it be dismissed as 'inconsequential' just because the ref didn't see it?

Where did I argue that it was inconsequential? I want a long ban for Suarez for this, but you can't castigate the referee for not acting on something he didn't see when it was an off the ball incident.

EDIT: Just realised my post before this one was ambiguous. When I said "him" I meant the ref. Sorry for the confuision.

[Tony E Loves Architecture]

I agree with Rob. It's not the Referee's fault. Although, it's the Linesman's fault. There are 2 Linesmen for a reason, one for each half of the field. His there to see for incidents on and off the ball. He should of seen it, alerted the Referee and the Referee should then sent off Suarez and Suarez receives an appropriate punishment after the Game. If Fifa want to try and fix their reputation after the Russia 2018 and Qatar 2022 issues, then giving a lengthy ban and a big fine to Suarez would be a step in the right way. I done some research and Suarez's yearly earnings is £10,400,000. He earns £200,000 a week, which times by 52 (52 Weeks in a Year) is £10,400,000. So I believe the appropriate punishment for Luis Suarez is, 1 Year ban from all types of Professional Football (Unless it's Charity Work), ban for 1 Year from International and Club Football and a £2 Million Fine.

[NY20??]

I really hope Colombia isn't disrespected by having him in their presence on Saturday.

[gotosy]

from AP

"We have to resolve it either today or tomorrow," FIFA disciplinary panel member Martin Hong told reporters Wednesday. "It's our duty to see justice done."

"We have it deal with it before the next game," the Hong Kong official said, referring to Uruguay's match Saturday against Colombia in the Round of 16 at Maracana Stadium.

[ofan]

Where did I argue that it was inconsequential? I want a long ban for Suarez for this, but you can't castigate the referee for not acting on something he didn't see when it was an off the ball incident.

EDIT: Just realised my post before this one was ambiguous. When I said "him" I meant the ref. Sorry for the confuision.

Ah, so the referee committed a cardinal sin of officiating: "ball watching". As someone who is a ref for other sports, one of the most important things that I have been tought is to not stare at where the ball is, and keep your head on a swivel and watch the entire play. If the positioning of soccer officials compromises their ability to make blatant calls like the Suarez incident and causes them to get caught up in "ball watching" then the system needs to be changed.

[micheal_warren]

Definitely a long ban. FIFA need to make an example of this terrible act.

[Alexjc]

Interesting an article comming off the wire is the reason why Suarez wasn't Red Carded, was the ref could've been nervous at the crowd going apesh*t if Suarez was expelled from the field. All this had to come into play.

What a shame...totally blemished the match, at least it's being delt with right now.

[donutman88]

I've always, ALWAYS had a problem with the ref from this game in Marco Rodriguez. He is generally very strict, but then he comes right back and contradicts himself by letting crazy things like this happen. He is the subject and seems to be the ref all too often in controversial games and endings like this one, and is always inconsistent. He refereed two games last world cup where he sent two guys off on straight reds, one of them done with no business whatsoever in the Chile Spain game last time around. In the ITA URU game he seemed to do it again, sending off a guy on a very questionable red card and I've even read some former refs' comments it may not even have warranted a yellow judging by what else he let slip by. Yet 20 minutes later he won't give a card, even a yellow, let alone warn the guy who just bit a competitor for the 3rd time. Inexcusable. This guy's got issues with reffing, and the bigger issue is that FIFA has essentially made him their "pet" referee. He is sent to every single tournament FIFA has and refs more matches at each tournament than most anybody else, the commentator on ESPN even said yesterday he's the "FIFA Favorite." It's ridiculous, never liked the guy, and after yesterday, certainly never will.