Luis suarez ban decision upheld

The Court of Arbitration for Sport on Thursday upheld Luis Suárez’s four-month ban from soccer, ruling that the enigmatic striker cannot play in a game for his club team, Barcelona, until the end of October.

In a small victory for Suarez and the club, however, the court also modified the terms of the ban to allow Suarez to practice with his teammates and attend
games during his suspension; previously, Suarez had been prohibited from participating in any soccer-related activities.

Nonetheless, the decision largely
reaffirmed the ban Suárez received from FIFA’s disciplinary committee on June 26 after he bit an Italian opponent during a match at this summer’s World Cup in Brazil.

This was not Suarez’s first offense – he served suspensions on two previous occasions after biting opponents earlier in his career – and so the punishment was heavy: His original suspension also included a nine-match ban from national team play, which remains in place, in addition to a fine of 100,000 Swiss francs, or about $112,000.

Some of Suárez’s teammates, his coach and Uruguay’s soccer federation rallied to his defense after the incident, which took
place late in the second half of Uruguay’s final group stage game. Suarez and Italian defender Giorgio Chiellini came together
inside the penalty area and Suarez quickly dropped his open mouth on to Chiellini’s
shoulder.

Chiellini tumbled, immediately
grabbing his shoulder and attempting to show the referee what appeared to be bite marks; Suarez, meanwhile, feigned an
injury to his face. Suarez was not
disciplined for the act during the game.

Nonetheless, FIFA acted quickly to punish Suarez afterward, and he was forced to leave the tournament immediately. He
received a hero’s welcome upon his arrival back in Uruguay, but that support was undercut slightly by an apology from Suárez, which was posted to his Facebook page on June 30.

His comments seemed to
have made his appeal of the punishment more difficult – since there was an admission of guilt – but showing a measure of contrition also likely helped to
ease his $108 million transfer to
Barcelona from Liverpool, which was confirmed only days before the World Cup final.
Suarez and Barcelona will at least take consolation in the news that Suarez can now begin training alongside Lionel Messi
and Neymar, the club’s other top
attackers.

Being allowed to practice with
the club presumably means that Suarez will be able to slide quickly into the starting lineup when his suspension ends.

This will be Suarez’s first season playing in Spain; he was voted the player of the year in England’s Premier League last season
after scoring 30 goals for Liverpool.