RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) – Luis Suarez told FIFA’s disciplinary panel that he did not deliberately bite Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini at the World Cup.
The Uruguay striker’s defence that he lost balance and fell on his opponent will now be presented to FIFA’s appeal panel, after his national federation notified FIFA late Friday it would challenge the nine-match, four-month ban.
“In no way it happened how you have described, as a bite or intent to bite,” Suarez wrote in Spanish in a letter dated June 25.
The player’s defence is in paragraph 6 of FIFA’s disciplinary committee ruling, which has been seen by The Associated Press.
“After the impact … I lost my balance, making my body unstable and falling on top of my opponent,” Suarez wrote in his submission to the panel which met Wednesday, one day after Uruguay beat Italy 1-0 in a decisive group-stage match.
“At that moment I hit my face against the player leaving a small bruise on my cheek and a strong pain in my teeth,” Suarez said.
However, the seven-man panel which met on Wednesday evening dismissed the argument.
The bite was “deliberate, intentional and without provocation”, the ruling stated in paragraph No. 26 of the panel’s conclusions.
Suarez was banned for nine Uruguay matches and four months from all football. He was also fined 100 000 Swiss francs (US$112 000).
The panel, chaired by former Switzerland international Claudio Sulser, included members from the Cook Islands, Hong Kong, Pakistan, Panama, South Africa and Singapore.
On Saturday, FIFA confirmed that formal proceedings had begun to challenge the longest ban for a World Cup player in 20 years.
