The Uruguay captain Diego Lugano has branded the four-month suspension handed to Luis Suárez an act of “barbarity” that breaches the Liverpool striker’s human rights.
Fifa suspended Suárez from “all football related activity” until the end of October last week after finding him guilty of biting Italy’s Giorgio Chiellini during the South Americans’ Group D victory over the Azzurri in Natal. The forward, who is not allowed to set foot in a stadium over the course of the sanction, began the ban on Saturday as his compatriots were eliminated from the World Cup by Colombia at the Maracanã.
The severity of the punishment – Suárez was also banned for nine competitive Uruguay matches and fined £66,000 – has provoked a furious reaction back in Uruguay, as well as among Óscar Tabárez’s squad, with Lugano highly critical of the global game’s governing body as he took leave of the tournament. “It’s a breach of human rights that a player cannot go into a stadium where there are 80,000 people, or into a hotel with his team-mates – that he cannot work for four months,” said the centre-half who spent last season at West Bromwich Albion in the Premier League. “He has committed an offence, but this ban is barbarity. Not even a criminal would receive this penalty.”
The seven-strong Fifa disciplinary panel had considered 34 camera angles before determining the striker’s guilt, concluding the bite was “deliberate, intentional and without provocation”. Those assertions are still refuted by Suárez, who claimed in a letter written to Fifa in his defence that he had lost his balance and “hit my face against the player, leaving a small bruise and a strong pain in my teeth”. Uruguay have informed Fifa they will appeal the suspension, which would also rule Suárez out of nine Premier League matches and three Champions League games if he remains at Anfield despite reported interest from Barcelona, and have entered the seven-day period allocated to finalise paperwork.
Yet their hopes of making a prolonged impact at the World Cup were effectively wrecked by their striker’s absence. The Paris Saint-Germain forward Edinson Cavani, who endured a disappointing tournament, admitted the punishment had been “tough, for both him and for us”, but acknowledged Colombia had outplayed Uruguay at the Maracanã. Lugano, who had initially denied publicly last week that any biting incident had even taken place, was more forthright.
“Suárez is irreplaceable,” said the centre-back, who was booked despite being an unused, and injured, substitute for protesting a refereeing decision on Saturday. “Against Colombia we weren’t able to replace the skills he has. For years he has been our best player. For us to have lost him is so much worse even than Brazil losing Neymar or Argentina losing [Lionel] Messi.”
