Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini says the four-month ban given to Luis Suarez for biting him is excessive.
Suarez, 27, bit the Juventus player during Uruguay’s 1-0 win over Italy and has been banned from all football-related activity until the end of October by world governing body FIFA.
Suarez, who flew back to the Uruguayan capital Montevideo in early hours of Friday morning, denied the biting accusation following his clash with Chiellini, claiming the centre-half had knocked into him.
But FIFA decided he was guilty and handed him the longest ban in World Cup history. He was also banned from taking part in international matches and given a fine of 100,000 Swiss francs (£65,680).
Writing on his personal website, Chiellini, 29, said: “I have always considered the competent bodies make judgments of justice, but at the same time I believe that the punishment is excessive. Now inside me there’s no feelings of joy, revenge or anger against Suarez for such an incident that happened during the match. My only thought is for Luis and his family, because they will face a very difficult period.”
Former Argentina captain and manager Maradona declared his support for the Liverpool striker on his television show De Zurda on Thursday night. Maradona wore a T-shirt on his TV show bearing the words ‘Luisito Estamos Con Vos’ – ‘Luis we are with you’.
“The FIFA decision is shameful, they don’t consider the feelings of the fans, they might as well handcuff him and throw him into prison,” said Maradona, who was wearing a T-shirt bearing the message ‘Luis, we are with you’. “It hurts that they have cut short the career of a lad who is a winner. It’s an excessive ban, FIFA cannot talk about morals to anyone.”
Maradona interviewed Uruguay’s president Jose Mujica during the programme, broadcast on Telesur TV.
“We Uruguayans are full of anger, those coming from below do not understand anything,” said Mujica, who claimed FIFA used “a different standard” to judge certain countries.
“That’s what hurts and angers us the most,” he added.
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