Luis Suarez bites Giorgio Chiellini, FIFA World Cup 2014
Uruguayan striker Luis Suarez has become synonymous with biting, after three separate incidents of him chomping down on players have come to light. On this occasion, he was playing in the 2014 FIFA World Cup, with Uruguay fighting Italy in the teams’ Group D qualification match.
Uruguay eventually beat Italy 1-0 to progress to the quarter-finals, but Suarez tarnished proceedings at the Arena das Dunas in Brazil with the third bite of his career.
With 10 minutes of regular time to go and neither team having scored, Suarez chomped on Chiellini’s right shoulder. Amazingly, the move went unnoticed by match referee Marco Antonio Rodriguez – taken note of, it would have invited a certain red card.
Uruguay eventually went on to win after Diego Godin scored, eliminating Italy from the tournament. Chiellini and other Italian players alleged a conspiracy, questioning why Suarez had not been booked on the pitch.
Eventually, Suarez was handed a retroactive four-month ban from any football-related activity; in addition to this, he received a ban of nine international matches, effectively ruling him out of the remainder of the Cup.
Suarez later alleged that he ‘lost his balance and fell’ on the defender’s shoulder, but given his lack of credibility and his history with biting players, his alibi was widely derided. He has since said he is ‘receiving professional help to control (my) biting impulses.‘
