Luis Suarez Could Face Two-Year Ban If Found Guilty Of Biting Italy’s Giorgio Chiellini

Luis Suarez could be banned by FIFA for
up to 24 matches or two years for
apparently biting Italy defender Giorgio
Chiellini, according to the governing
body’s disciplinary rules.

Still, any action could depend on FIFA
judging the case using video evidence —
which FIFA President Sepp Blatter is on
record this year as supporting.

“Video evidence can contribute greatly to
fair play, provided the sport’s disciplinary
bodies are prepared to use it — and they
should,” Blatter wrote in his column in
FIFA’s weekly magazine in February.

Now, the future of Luis Suarez at the
World Cup depends in the first instance
on the report of Mexican referee Marco
Rodriguez.

On Tuesday, FIFA said only that it was
waiting for Rodriguez’s report before
evaluating it. That is a standard
procedure following every match at a
FIFA competition.
There is a World Cup precedent for video
review.
In a 1994 quarterfinal, Italy defender
Mauro Tassotti’s elbow to the face of
Spain’s Luis Enrique escaped the referee’s

attention. FIFA later banned Tassotti for
eight international matches.
Rodriguez and his two assistants appear
not to have seen — or realized the
severity — of Suarez apparently biting
Chiellini late in Tuesday’s match.
Had they done so, or thought so, Suarez
would surely have been shown a red card
for “serious foul play.”

The code allows for suspensions to be
applied by time or number of
international matches
“Unless otherwise specified, it may not
exceed twenty-four matches or twenty-
four months,” Article 19 of the FIFA code
states.

The use of video evidence is an intriguing
aspect of this case.
Television and still images have clearly
shown Chiellini pulling aside his blue
shirt to reveal marks on his left shoulder.
Proof which can be presented to a FIFA
disciplinary hearing includes “audio or
video recordings.”

If the referee’s report to FIFA does not
fully deal with an incident, the code
appears to allow challenges.

FIFA would find it hard to resist
overwhelming evidence provided by the
34 cameras trained on each World Cup
match as part of its high-tech
broadcasting operation.