Barcelona striker Luis Suarez has revealed that he declined an invitation from FIFA to attend the Ballon d’Or ceremony. He revealed the incident while giving interview to an Uruguayan newspaper Ovación.
Suarez is supposedly still upset about the treatment he received from FIFA following his bite on Giorgio Chiellini at the 2014 World Cup. His bitterness with football’s governing body had compelled him to not to travel to Zurich for the gala award ceremony.
The Uruguayan is of the opinion that FIFA tried to bring him to Zurich on the pretext that he had won the Best Player of the Club World Cup. Suarez helped Barcelona to the Club World Cup title in Japan, as he scored a brace in the final where the Catalan club outplayed Argentine side River Plate. The striker scored also scored a hat trick in the semifinal of the tournament.
According to Suarez no other player who won the award in the same category has ever been invited before. He said,
"FIFA invited me to the Ballon d'Or gala using the excuse that I'd been named the best player at the Club World Cup. I don't think they've ever invited the winner of that prize before and it just so happens that they thought to invite me".
Suarez went on to say that he had to fend off too much attention from the FIFA organizers to really enjoy the FIFA Club World Cup in Japan.
"It was a tournament that I was really excited about and I tried not to think about who had organised it,” said Suarez.
Suarez has previously been charged with biting opponent team players thrice and has faced suspension on each of the occasions. However, in this case, he was referring to the incident that happened during the 2014 World Cup when Uruguay was up against Italy in a group D match. With the score tied at 0-0, Suarez got into a row with Italy’s Giorgio Chiellini and bit him on his right shoulder.
The 28-year-old was banned from all football-related activities and had to pay a hefty fine, he was also not allowed to take part in training sessions with his teammates. Suarez had then apologized and promised to not bite another soul ever again in his life.
On the other hand, at the Ballon d’Or gala, Lionel Messi won the prestigious award for a stunning fifth time. Messi did not forget to mention his teammate’s name saying that he wants to see Suarez in the podium along with him and Neymar.
