One bite. One bench.
Uruguayan striker Luis Suarez has been suspended for four months from any soccer activity after biting Italian player Giorgio Chiellini in a World Cup game on Tuesday, June 24. In addition, he's banned for nine international matches, is prohibited from entering any stadium and must pay a fine of $111,000.
"The first match of this suspension is to be served in the upcoming FIFA World Cup fixture between Colombia and Uruguay on 28 June 2014," FIFA said in a statement on Thursday, June 26 via CNN.
"The remaining match suspensions shall be served in Uruguay's next FIFA World Cup match(es), as long as the team qualifies, and/or in the representative team's subsequent official matches," the statement continued.
Suarez, 27, took a bite of Chiellini's shoulder during the heated match earlier this week. Chiellini, 29, then threw his elbow back and the two men fell to the ground. Uruguay went on to win 1-0.
Suarez has played dirty on the field before. He previously bit Chelsea's Branislav Ivanovic in a 2013 game and was banned for 10 matches. In 2010, he earned a seven-match ban when he bit Otman Bakkal in the Dutch Eredivisie.
"Such behavior cannot be tolerated on any football pitch, and in particular not at a FIFA World Cup when the eyes of millions of people are on the stars on the field," FIFA disciplinary committee chairman Claudio Sulser said in a statement. "The decision comes into force as soon it is communicated."
