BRAZIL: FOOTBALL/SOCCER: Uruguay to appeal Suarez ban calling it excessive

Record ID: 351658

  • Title: BRAZIL: FOOTBALL/SOCCER: Uruguay to appeal Suarez ban calling it excessive
  • Date: 26th June 2014
  • Summary: RIO DE JANEIRO (JUNE 27, 2014) (REUTERS) COPACABANA PALACE HOTEL, WHERE FIFA ARE STAYING SIGN FOR HOTEL POLICE ESCORT OUTSIDE VARIOUS OF URUGUAY FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION PRESIDENT WILMER VALDEZ ON CELLPHONE OUTSIDE HOTEL (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) URUGUAY FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION PRESIDENT, WILMER VALDEZ, SAYING: "We are working here on the appeal with the lawyer, we are going to appea
  • Embargoed: 11th July 2014 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Brazil
  • Country: Brazil
  • Topics: Sports
  • Reuters ID: LVABGOWHKRSTGT18Y8HUNLZIS3WD
  • Story Text: Uruguay will appeal against a record nine-match ban imposed by FIFA on striker Luis Suarez for biting an Italy defender in a World Cup group match, FA president Wilmer Valdez on Thursday (June 26th).
    Valdez told reports the appeal will be filed later on Thursday and that they thought the sanctions were too hash.
    "We are working here on the appeal with the lawyer, we are going to appeal today. We have three days to do it, but we are going to try and send it today so that the first appeal has the same time frame as the disciplinary procedure - so that we can get a ruling in the fastest amount of time," he said.
    "We don't know, we are looking at the case with the lawyer and we are going to look at our strategy and we are in this particular situation, which is being disputed, it really isn't clear and there isn't definitive evidence that allows us to say that this kind of sanction can be applied. We are talking nine games, four months and a financial penalty - so to me it really seems like a completely exaggerated and abusive sanction."
    Uruguayans are incensed by the ban, with many slamming it as exaggerated, hypocritical, or even biased.
    "Fundamentally what we asked of Blatter are guarantees that FIFA as the World's Football organisation do everything to make sure the rules are clear and the same for everyone, we are not saying that anyone is going after Uruguay or that anyone is going after Suarez, we are not against sanctions in behaviour that is really outside the rules, we are not against that. What we are wanting is that they are applied equally to all members," Valdez said.
    "The player of course, Luis, is very upset, he is very upset about the situation, right now he is looking into it with his family if he should travel back to Uruguay and in this case we are going to support him in everything, he is not just a football player, he is a human being and it is a very difficult situation for him, and as a human being and a football player he is going to have the full support of the FA and the Uruguayans without a doubt."
    Suarez will miss Uruguay's last-16 match against Colombia in Rio de Janeiro on Saturday and will play no further part in the tournament in Brazil if they progress.
    Suarez was also suspended from any football-related activity for four months and fined 100,000 Swiss francs ($111,000), soccer's world governing body said in a statement on Thursday.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2014. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register