Luis Suarez has seen his appeal against a four-month ban from soccer activity rejected, as the Uruguayan striker now definitely faces a long spell on the sidelines.
The Uruguayan FA also appealed against Suarez’s ban for biting Italian defender Giorgio Chiellini during the 2014 World Cup, but FIFA announced on Thursday that they have waved both appeals away as Suarez’s nine-game, plus four-month ban from any kind of soccer activity, has been rubber-stamped.
[RELATED: Suarez banned four months after bite ]
That said Suarez can have one final go at overturning the sanctions he received after being found guilty of, then admitting to and apologizing for, his third bite on an opposition player during his career.
The 27-year-old forward, who is edging closer to a $130 million summer switch to Barcelona from Liverpool, can lodge an appeal to the Court of Arbitration of Sport (CAS) under FIFA laws.
Time will tell if Suarez does go down that route, but it seems likely as he would want to grab any chance he can at at least knocking a few games, or a few weeks, off of his lengthy ban.
Here is the statement, in full, from FIFA’s website.The FIFA Appeal Committee has decided to reject the appeals lodged by both the Uruguayan player Luis Suárez and the Uruguayan FA, and to confirm the decision rendered by the FIFA Disciplinary Committee on 25 June 2014 in its entirety.
The terms of the decision taken by the FIFA Appeal Committee were communicated to the player and the Uruguayan FA today.
The relevant decision is not yet final and binding, i.e. an appeal to the Court of Arbitration of Sport (CAS) is still possible (cf. art. 67 par. 1 of the FIFA Statutes) by the player and/or the Uruguayan FA, subject to certain conditions.Follow @JPW_NBCSports
