One bite too many: Enough excuses, notorious Suarez must be banned

Luis Suarez didn’t seriously chase a dream of being a footballer player, he chose it as a means to marry his girlfriend who had moved to Spain. He would collect coins while on his sweeper’s job in Uruguay just to take her out — and finally married her after his goal-scoring exploits earned him a move to Europe. It’s such a beautiful story — football mingled with romance — that it makes people forget how he head butted a referee when he was 16-years-old, because he thought he had been unfairly sent off. Controversy only seemed to follow him however. In the 2010 World Cup, he saved a certain goal with his hand in the quarters against Ghana and got sent off. When Asamoah Gyan hit the bar from the spot, he celebrated shamelessly near the players’ tunnel. But he had already scored three goals for Uruguay in the World Cup till then and was coming off the back of a season which saw him score 49 goals in 48 appearances for Ajax. He sacrificed a place in the semifinal lineup to get Uruguay there… of course we can forgive him. Later that year, he bit PSV Eindhoven midfielder Otman Bakkal’s shoulder, got a seven match ban for it and then sealed a move to Liverpool where he quickly showed what the hype around him was all about. His movement in front of the goal itself generated so many oohs and aahs that Bakkal’s poor shoulder was quickly forgotten. [caption id=“attachment_1587381” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  This time, Suarez’s bite may cause him more pain than the toothache he complained about in the middle of the pitch after clashing with Giorgio Chiellini. AP[/caption] In 2011, he racially abused Patrice Evra then refused to shake his hands in the next Manchester United vs Liverpool incident. The Reds fully backed him and his teammates wore t-shirts in support for him. He claims he said ’negrito’ in a non-abusive way. And come on, everyone gets one guilt-free pass when they’re adjusting to a new league and culture. Then he bit Branislav Ivanovic in 2013 — the 30-goal man coming under so much scrutiny that he demanded a move away from the Premier League. But he stayed — and with every goal and assist (31 and 24 in total), fans and the media chose to see his pedigree in the game above the controversies. He had a mature season to be honest — and those who had backed him were vindicated. Those who were sceptical about him were not entirely convinced but were still so awed by his phenomenal goals that they tried to like him. And when he scored two goals against England in the World Cup after a knee surgery barely a month ago, his stature as a fighter only rose. His on-field conduct may have divided opinion, but his credentials as a player who cold lift his team on his own were never in doubt. That is until his taste for bits of other players returned against the crucial world cup group game against Italy when he decided to start chomping again. And this time it may cause him more pain than the toothache he complained about in the middle of the pitch after clashing with Giorgio Chiellini. Even if there was no bite, there was a blatant head-butt in a move that later resulted in the corner from which Diego Godin scored to put Uruguay into the last 16. Two World Cups, two controversies surrounding Suarez and both times to the detriment of the opposing team. This time however forgiveness from the football world may not come easy. Suarez is in danger of writing off all his goals because of a stupid bite. This time, the ban has to come — and it has to come from FIFA. There needs to be an end to this, and the only way that will happen is if Suarez is handed out a harsh punishment (FIFA can ban players up to 24 matches if they find enough evidence). Various reasons have been given in a bid to explain Suarez’s tendency to bite. Some say it is an instinctive reaction that he learnt in his formative years in Uruguay. It’s self-preservation — maybe even an incredible will to win that makes him see the football pitch as a gladiators ring where do-or-die matches happen. But Suarez has everything now. He’s been playing in Europe for the last eight years. He is an exceptional footballer who leads the line of one of the most historic clubs in the world — a father of two lovely children who walked out with him at Anfield recently. He is Uruguay’s talisman and darling — their Messi, Ronaldo and Neymar all rolled into one . What excuse does he have for the latest controversy he’s landed himself into? The answer is none — and the only explanation seems to be that he has taken his fans, his country, his club and his game for granted. The claps and cheers after his remarkable feats were always louder than the insults and abuse he received — this time those claps and cheers will be reserved for a massive ban.