World governing body FIFA has launched disciplinary proceedings against Luis Suarez after the striker appeared to bite Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini during Uruguay’s 1-0 World Cup win.
Suarez faces a lengthy ban that would force him to miss the rest of the World Cup if found guilty of biting Chiellini.
The Liverpool forward looked to have sunk his teeth into the shoulder of the Azzurri, who attempted to show referee Marco Rodriguez the mark left by Suarez’s teeth.
The Mexican referee, however, failed to spot the incident but in a statement on their official website, FIFA confirmed that it will investigate the 27-year-old’s actions in Natal.
The maximum time FIFA are able to ban a player for is two years.
FIFA’s statement said ”FIFA can confirm that disciplinary proceedings have been opened against Luis Suarez of Uruguay following an apparent breach of article 48 and/or article 57 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code during the World Cup match Italy-Uruguay played on 24 June 2014.
The player and/or the Uruguayan FA are invited to provide their position and any documentary evidence they deem relevant until 25 June 2014, 5pm, Brasilia time.
‘According to article 77 lit. a of the FIFA Disciplinary Code (FDC), the FIFA Disciplinary Committee is responsible for sanctioning serious infringements which have escaped the match officials’ attention.
Furthermore, according to article 96 of the FDC, any type of proof may be produced (par. 1), in particular are admissible, reports from referees, declarations from the parties and witnesses, material evidence, audio or video recordings (par. 3).’
FIFA’s disciplinary code sets a maximum ban of 24 matches or two years, but the longest ban in World Cup history was eight games for Italy’s Mauro Tassotti for breaking Spain’s Luis Enrique’s nose in 1994 with an elbow. Zinedine Zidane was given a three-match ban for headbutting Marco Materazzi in the 2006 final.
Fifa Vice-President Jim Boyce said: “There is no doubt Luis Suarez is a fantastic footballer but, once again, his actions have left him open to severe criticism.
“Fifa must investigate the incident seriously and take whatever disciplinary action is deemed necessary.”
Suarez has, however, denied claims that he bit Chielini and insists he ‘had contact, nothing more.’
“There are things that happen on the pitch and you should not make such a big deal out of them. It was just the two of us inside the area and he bumped into me with his shoulder.” The Liverpool striker told Urugyuan television
Suarez and the Uruguayan Football Association have until 5pm local time (21:00 GMT) on Wednesday to respond to the football world governing body and could miss the rest of the competition if found guilty.
