URUGUAY/FILE: FOOTBALLL/SOCCER: Uruguayans defend striker Luis Suarez over alleged chomp

Record ID: 351660

  • Title: URUGUAY/FILE: FOOTBALLL/SOCCER: Uruguayans defend striker Luis Suarez over alleged chomp
  • Date: 25th June 2014
  • Summary: MONTEVIDEO, URUGUAY (JUNE 25, 2014) (REUTERS) 18 DE JULIO AVENUE IN DOWNTOWN MONTEVIDEO PEOPLE ON STREET NEWSSTAND
  • Embargoed: 10th July 2014 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Uruguay, Brazil, Jordan
  • City:
  • Country: Uruguay Brazil Jordan
  • Topics: Sports
  • Reuters ID: LVAAXY8B3LKBJBOJOQ85IMGBB79F
  • Story Text: Uruguay fans in Montevideo weighed in on Wednesday (June 25) as to whether Uruguayan striker Luis Suarez had bitten off more than he could chew during Tuesday's (June 24) match against Italy with the majority fully defending their star player.
    Italy's Giorgio Chiellini claimed that he was bitten by Suarez during the South Americans' 1-0 Group D victory at the World Cup which sent Uruguay into the last 16 of the competition at the expense of Italy.
    Suarez and Chiellini clashed in the Italian penalty area 10 minutes from the end of the match which sealed Uruguay's progression and Italy's elimination from the tournament.
    Reuters photographers captured the images that went around the world.
    The incident monopolized newspaper headlines worldwide though it was initially out of the limelight in the small farming nation, which instead delighted in the team's passage to the last 16.
    But as cries to ban the Liverpool striker grew and as FIFA opened an investigation into the incident, Uruguayan headlines shifted towards lambasting foreign coverage for singling out controversial Suarez.
    "I didn't specifically see that there was a bite, I saw that the Italian elbowed him, he does this with the head and I didn't see. Also when he wanted to show something [Giorgio Chiellini] you can't tell if it is a bite mark. But really I can't explain it. It's inexplicable and so I consider that there was no bite," said Hugo Arevalo.
    Rolando Veninkas said he wasn't fazed by the incident.
    "For me it is something natural in Uruguayan soccer, when the player tries to do everything and do what he can and sometimes they commit mistakes, but I think that they are just mistakes and nothing more," he said.
    For Majela Landeira, Suarez was unfairly provoked.
    "They yelled many things at him and it drove him crazy. [JOURNALIST ASK IF SHE THINKS SUAREZ RESPONDED CORRECTLY] No, it wasn't correct but they provoked him too much. Or maybe everything is planned so that Uruguay doesn't move forward, I think that. No, it's not the correct attitude, but neither was the attitude of other players," she said.
    Student Alberto Landeira thought that biting was just one form of violence inherent in the sport.
    "What I wonder is what is the problem if one player bites when the others elbow, spit or grab? It is just one more behavior in a game that is very violent, but it is something that happens in the game and what happens in the game should stay on the pitch," said Landeira.
    Suarez, twice previously banned for biting, could be hit with another lengthy suspension despite escaping punishment during the match for the incident involving the Italy defender.
    Uruguayan journalist and presenter for Montecarlo Television, Mario Bardanca narrowed down Suarez's predicament to a combination of competitive genes, pressure and unfair scrutiny in the international spotlight.
    "Suarez has a competitive gene that makes him play to the limit. Sometimes he goes beyond the limit and goes overboard with reactions that end up working against him. Suarez is affected by being constantly under the microscope. Suarez is observed and questioned. The big problem is that Suarez is not treated that same as others," said Bardanca.
    Suarez was banned for 10 games last year after biting Chelsea's Branislav Ivanovic in a Premier League match and in 2010 he was suspended for seven games for a similar offence against PSV Eindhoven's Otman Bakkal while playing for Ajax Amsterdam.
    The 27-year-old soccer star, who recently underwent knee surgery after a training injury, now risks losing lucrative commercial deals, with poker brand 888 saying it was reviewing its sponsorship agreement with him. Suarez became one of the online gambling company's brand ambassadors last month.
    Uruguay could potentially play four more games in the tournament, and it would be a surprise if Suarez were to be given a ban of a shorter duration.
    La Celeste is due to play Colombia on Saturday (June 28) in Rio de Janeiro in the first knock-out round.
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