Giorgio Chiellini, the Italian soccer player who was bitten by Uruguay’s Luis Suarez a couple days ago in the 2014 FIFA World Cup, believes that his attacker has been harshly and unjustly punished by FIFA. Suarez was hit with a ban of nine international matches and four months of football-related activity by FIFA for the incident.
This is the third time that Suarez has bitten an opponent, and he also has long rap sheet of infractions on the pitch, including cursing at Fulham fans and using a racist slur against a Manchester United opponent. Liverpool will be without the services of Luis Suarez for 11 games once Premier League season begins.
Chiellini and Italy were eliminated from the World Cup after defeats against Costa Rica and Uruguay. The Juventus centre-back is only angry about his nation’s early tournament exit though. He seems to be over what the controversial striker did to him.
Chiellini wrote in a blog on Sportlobster.com:
“Now inside me there are no feelings of joy, revenge or anger against Suarez for an incident, which happened on the pitch and is done.
“There only remains the anger and the disappointment about the match. At the moment, my only thought is for Luis and his family, because they will face a very difficult period.
“I have always unequivocally considered the disciplinary interventions by the competent bodies, but at the same time I believe the proposed formula is excessive.
“I sincerely hope he will be allowed to stay close to his teammates during the games, because such a ban is really alienating for a player.”
A blog on Sportlobster with all of @chiellini’s thoughts on the Luis Suarez bite saga. Read it here: https://t.co/7x6Mk4WSdZ
— Sportlobster (@sportlobster) June 27, 2014
Well, I guess if Chiellini isn’t all that bent out of shape about it, I guess it means we shouldn’t be all that incensed either. We’ve all certainly had some fun with this incident. There’s been plenty of public outrage as well.
Or Chiellini is just doing lip service publicly, while harboring more resentment inside. What’s really important is how will this punishment affect Suarez? Will he finally learn from all of his mistakes and change for the better?
Paul M. Banks owns The Sports Bank.net, an affiliate of Fox Sports. He’s also a frequent guest on talk shows across the world. Banks has been featured in hundreds of media outlets including NFL.com, Forbes, Bleacher Report, Deadspin, ESPN, Washington Times, NBC and The History Channel. President Barack Obama follows him on Twitter (@paulmbanks)