Italy boss Prandelli agrees with Chiellini after witnessing bite marks

Chiellini shows off the alleged bite mark

Italian manager Cesare Prandelli has claimed he has not seen the incident in which Luis Suarez has been accused of biting centre-back Giorgio Chiellini, but has claimed that he has witnessed the bite marks on his captain’s shoulder first hand.

Italy went down 1-0 to Uruguay in the final group game thanks to Diego Godin’s late header, sending the South American side into the second round of the World Cup at the expense of Prandelli’s Italian side, but the headlines were dominated by the intervention of Suarez with the scores still tied at 0-0.

Suarez appeared on television images to sink his teeth into the shoulder of Chiellini as the pair tussled in the box, prompting a spilling of outrage from both players at the time, and various viewers who took to Twitter to condemn the actions of the Liverpool striker.

Suarez has previous for this form of behaviour after being found guilty of biting both Otman Bakkal during his time at Ajax, and Branislav Ivanovic 14 months ago and many have called for a lengthy ban to be given to the Uruguayan forward.

Prandelli himself claims the initial incident bypassed him, but having seen the marks in his captain’s shoulder, he is disappointed his side had to be eliminated in such controversial circumstances.

Prandelli told the BBC: “I didn’t see the images of Suarez but I did see the bite marks in Chiellini’s shoulder.

“It is a shame a real shame but when these defeats are determined by wrongful choices, everything becomes complicated and it is hard to comment.”

Prandelli on Suarez: "I didn't see the images of Suarez but I did see the bite marks in Chiellini's shoulder."

— Ben Smith (@BenSmithBBC) June 24, 2014

Luis Suarez's game in numbers vs. #ITA: 63% pass accuracy 4 fouls 0% aerial duels success 1 bite #URU pic.twitter.com/gLBvDjokTI

— Squawka Football (@Squawka) June 24, 2014