Former Liverpool and Barcelona striker Luis Suarez is in sizzling water once more. He might be set for one of many lengthiest suspensions of his profession after showing to spit at Seattle Sounders coach Obed Vargas following Inter Miami’s 3-0 defeat within the Leagues Cup closing.
The 38-year-old is out of contract on the finish of the 2025 MLS season and a spell on the sidelines would possibly see him miss a major proportion of what could be the ultimate months of his skilled profession.
We’ve taken a better take a look at Suarez’s notorious footballing rap sheet – listed here are the 5 longest suspensions of his profession.
Giorgio Chiellini biting incident – 4 months and 9 matches
The third such incident of Suarez’s profession (extra on the opposite two to return) acquired essentially the most prolonged punishment.
FIFA took unprecedented motion, fining him £66,000 and banning him from getting into any stadium for 4 months after biting Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini on the 2014 World Cup.
“Such behaviour can’t be tolerated on any soccer pitch, and specifically not at a World Cup when the eyes of thousands and thousands of persons are on the celebs on the sphere,” stated Claudio Sulser, the chair of FIFA’s disciplinary committee.
That meant he missed Uruguay’s Spherical of 16 defeat to Colombia in Brazil, in addition to their Copa America title defence the next summer time.
The membership ban additionally threw his departure from Liverpool into severe doubt, though Barcelona finally made the choice to signal him for a club-record £75million.
He made his long-awaited debut for Barcelona in late October 2014, a 3-1 defeat to Actual Madrid, however his help to Neymar pointed at higher instances to return.
Suarez’s delayed introduction to the crew helped flip across the fortunes of under-pressure supervisor Luis Enrique, and he performed a starring function within the membership’s treble-winning marketing campaign that yr.
Branislav Ivanovic biting incident – 10 matches
Suarez scored a late header to equalise in a 2-2 draw at dwelling to Chelsea in April 2013, however the objective was overshadowed by him taking a piece out of Branislav Ivanovic’s proper arm.
The match officers missed it on the time. Suarez later accepted the FA cost of violent conduct however claimed he ought to obtain the usual punishment for violent conduct, a three-match ban.
Liverpool claimed they have been “shocked and upset” on the size of the suspension however determined in opposition to an attraction.
“I apologise to my supervisor and everybody at Liverpool for letting them down,” Suarez stated in an announcement.
“I’ve spoken to Ivanovic on the telephone and I might apologise on to him.”
The Uruguayan missed the ultimate 4 matches of Liverpool’s underwhelming 2012-13 marketing campaign, in addition to the primary 5 league video games of the next season.
He returned to provide arguably the perfect particular person marketing campaign of any participant in Premier League historical past, the inspiration behind Liverpool’s shock title cost, however his absence may need finally value them.
Brendan Rodgers’ facet dropped 5 factors (a 2-2 draw with Swansea and a 1-0 dwelling defeat to Southampton) throughout his early-season suspension and ended up simply two factors behind Manchester Metropolis.
Patrice Evra racism incident – 8 matches
In November 2011, Suarez was charged by the Soccer Affiliation with racially abusing Manchester United left-back Evra throughout a 1-1 draw at Anfield.
Suarez admitted that he’d used a derogatory time period, talking within the Uruguayan media, however argued that he “known as [Evra] one thing his team-mates at Manchester name him”.
“There are cameras, you may see [Suarez] say a sure phrase to me at the least 10 instances,” Evra advised French station Canal+.
The next month, Suarez was banned for eight video games following a six-day listening to. It was briefly suspended, throughout which the Liverpool gamers wore a shirt supporting the striker, however the membership finally determined in opposition to pending an attraction.
“There is no such thing as a doubt we made an enormous mistake; that was apparent,” former Liverpool vice-captain Jamie Carragher mirrored in 2019.
“Possibly I’ve to take a look at myself now and say I didn’t have the braveness as a person to say ‘I’m not sporting it’.
“I don’t suppose everybody inside Liverpool Soccer Membership thought what we have been doing was proper however I do suppose as a soccer membership, otherwise you as a household, your first response is to help them even when you already know that they’re flawed, and that’s flawed.
“I’m not condoning it, however that’s the first response. Apologies. We acquired it massively flawed.”
Liverpool misplaced to Bolton and Manchester Metropolis and drew 0-0 with Stoke Metropolis throughout his suspension, which preceded a collapse in kind within the second half of the season. Kenny Dalglish’s Reds completed eighth with 52 factors, their lowest tally of the Premier League period.
Otman Bakkal biting incident – 7 matches
Not lengthy after he introduced himself with sensible performances on the 2010 World Cup, however shortly earlier than he turned a family identify at Liverpool, Suarez was dubbed by Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf because the ‘Cannibal of Ajax’ for biting PSV Eindhoven midfielder Otman Bakkal.
Ajax fined him and banned him for 2 matches, however the punishment from the Dutch FA was significantly extra extreme – seven matches after discovering him responsible of ‘a violent act – biting an opponent’.
The suspension ran by means of till February 2011, by which level he’d made a mid-season transfer to Liverpool. That proved to be his closing Eredivisie look for Ajax.
Dutch Tremendous Cup flying deal with – 2 matches
Remarkably, for a participant with such a historical past of controversy, Suarez has solely acquired two straight pink playing cards in his practically one thousand aggressive outings. They each got here in the identical summer time.
Weeks after his notorious handball in opposition to Ghana, he was despatched off for a reckless lunge on Cheick Tiote as Ajax have been defeated 1-0 by FC Twente within the Johan Cruyff Defend, AKA the Dutch Tremendous Cup.
He was subsequently suspended for the primary two matches of the 2010-11 Eredivisie marketing campaign.
Suarez was later handed a few two-match bans throughout his time at Barcelona, together with a suspension that dominated him out of Barcelona’s 2017 Copa del Rey closing victory over Alaves.
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