Matchday Thread | GROUP D

Yes, you have a point in all of the above, but again, the ban FIFA is considering is for FIFA national team games; it wouldn't affect Liverpool, so why are you bringing up club football? You think because Suarez is a player for Liverpool he will get immunity against a national team ban? Like I said, if anything, Liverpool will appreciate it since big clubs always get unhappy when they have to cede their players to a national team. In terms of bad publicity, the damage is done anyway for Liverpool, regardless of any ban. As a matter of fact if he is not banned people will be even angrier at him which might do further damage to Liverpool. I don't think Liverpool would try to defend him in this circumstance. They will probably want to be quiet about it.

 

Well, I agree that it's pathological behavior, but the one thing that might help him control the behavior, is to assign consequences to it. Getting away with it without facing consequences is exactly what will perpetuate the behavior.

Also, Luis Suarez is probably not very intelligent. Like you said, he adopted the exact opposite speech, in terms of likelihood of leniency. I blame Uruguay's lawyer as well. How in the hell did he counsel Suarez to say what he said to FIFA? Obviously this is not what he should have said.

Here is what Suarez should have written instead, in his letter to FIFA:

"I don't know what got me. I think I was in a daze and I don't even have a clear recollection of the incident. The emotions of the game took over and it all happened so fast, I think I moved my head in anger and my teeth did hit my colleague's elbow. I don't think I really had the intention of biting him but I guess that's what happened, almost involuntarily, in the heat of the moment. Whatever daze took my mind at that moment, it's no excuse because it is unacceptable behavior and I deeply regret it. I offer my sincere apologies to Chiellini, to the Italian team, to FIFA, and to football lovers all over the world. I feel ashamed that I damaged the reputation of my beloved Uruguay team. I humbly ask FIFA for forgiveness and leniency at least during this tournament, to allow me to continue to defend the Uruguayan colors, thus making up for the damage I caused the team. After the tournament I'll gladly submit to a long ban, which I deserve, but please let me complete play in this tournament which I tried hard, battling injury and knee surgery, to compete in. I will be eternally grateful for being given an opportunity to redeem myself and will be an exemplary player until the end of the tournament."

No, instead, the idiot appears defiant. Sure, FIFA will looooove his defiance. What an imbecile.

 

That's why I think a ban is not really avoidable. He can't begin to control behavior that he doesn't own up to or even recognize as wrong.

 

I was just replying to the comment by @Redshift that Suarez is not as big a name as Neymar, which is clearly not true.

 

Well, yes, obviously, in all lists of the three best players in the world, his name was in, and Neymar's wasn't. Most people will settle for Messi, C. Ronaldo, and Suarez. Neymar maybe is top 20, if that high. He does have potential but he is not there yet. Do remember that Neymar is very young, and likely he will develop more muscle mass and will become more experienced. I think Neymar in the future maybe will be top 5, but not now (unless he somehow manages to win this Cup for Brazil).

In terms of importance to this tournament, however, with Neymar being the one player in Brazil that seems a bit closer to the standard of quality Brazil used to have (and no longer does), and being Brazil the host, with Neymar having scored the four goals that qualified Brazil to the knock-out stage, Neymar is actually more important than Suarez. I repeat, for this tournament, not in general.

 

As far as this World Cup is concerned, it absolutely is. Suarez isn't important enough to this World Cup, from FIFA's perspective, for them to consider bending the rules despite everything weighing in favor of imposing a harsh punishment. I was just trying to illustrate, in passing, that I could conceive of a different result if Messi or Neymar were involved. Again, I'm not saying that's right. I'm just thinking out loud about the kinds of factors that might drive FIFA's decision-making process. This minor point clearly got lost.

You keep trying to change the subject to "who is better." But that's completely irrelevant to whether Suarez will--in fact--be disciplined. First of all, because Neymar didn't bite anyone. Even if he had, it wouldn't determine what would happen to Suarez, except maybe as a precedent.

I've made pretty clear to you that this isn't a "who is better" debate. I'm not comparing their footballing talent, their relative importance to their clubs, or even how crucial they are to their respective national teams. The only thing I was talking about was how they each bear on the success of the World Cup from FIFA's perspective. Remember that this World Cup is taking place in Brazil. From what I understand, Neymar's face is plastered on practically every flat surface.

 

This is pretty much right on. Suarez should have hired you to represent him instead.

His actual response is especially stupid given the amount of photographic evidence contradicting the version of the events he tried to portray.

 

Paging Mr. Luis Suarez. Dear Mr. Suarez, I would like to offer you my representation services in the matter of your, erm, cough cough, unfortunate dental encounter with Mr. Chiellini's shoulder, cough cough. I'm quite sure that I can do a much better job than your Uruguayan lawyer, and get you out of this situation. Please kindly transfer two million dollars to my Swiss bank account which is my modest retainer fee, and I'll be glad to teach you how to solve the problem. Yours, Brasitusa.

 

The plot thickens. According to Uruguayan media, the committee postponed a resolution to later today, Thursday. The president of Conmebol, Eugenio Figueiredo, attended the meeting, and so did FIFA's vice president, Argentinian Julio Grondona. Members of the disciplinary committee who hail from South America have abstained.

I'm not sure what should be concluded from the above. I'd say that probably Conmebol is trying to save Suarez' ass. On the other hand, I guess South American committee members having abstained, it doesn't bode well for him, given that he'd lose potential votes for him. Or, maybe they have abstained because a "not guilty" verdict is in the works and they are trying to avoid an accusation of bias, claiming that the European members were the ones who found him not guilty.

Postponing the resolution might suggest that big time political pressure is going on. Knowing FIFA, one must also speculate if postponing the decision might indicate that the committee members are shopping around to see which side will bribe them with the most money, behind closed doors, to buy their votes.

 

Suarez to lose sponsorship deals and ads, might lose millions. 888poker and Adidas are reassessing their contracts with him.

http://news.yahoo.com/suarez-facing-big-financial-hit-alleged-bite-184025345--finance.html

 

Hmm.

I'm not sure either.

If I were being really cynical, I'd say that pressure was being exerted to not facilitate the path of a certain team to the final.

In all seriousness, more likely, it's just internal politicking. If Suarez's suspension is a foregone conclusion, why strain personal or working relationships with other CONMEBOL members who may disagree with the decision by voting for it, or relationships with persons or sponsors who support the decision by mounting a fight? This seems plausible, since there only appear to be two CONMEBOL members of the FIFA Disciplinary Committee.

It could also be the sort of ambivalence I expressed earlier. After all, it's an incredible shame for the tournament to lose one of its greatest potential protagonists. As you noted, there is probably enormous pressure from sponsors to stem the damage to the World Cup's brand (and by extension their own). Maybe the CONMEBOL members care more about the quality of the football than the sponsors' concerns (particularly when it would hurt one of their own)? A bit romantic, I know.

Or maybe it's a cultural thing? Anecdotally, I've heard a lot more outrage from non-South Americans, who, not having had much first-hand experience with Uruguayan catimba, don't just accept it and assume that it's par for the course. This may have been what Tabarez was referring to when he said that “[t]his is a football World Cup, it's not about morality, cheap morality."

 

All I can say is: You really are missing the bigger picture. It shouldn't matter who committed the offence - anyone who bites other players should receive a lengthy ban. If FIFA doesn't hand one out they'll be ridiculing themselves and putting the game in disregard. It happens to be Luis Suarez, a repeat offender, but even if it were Messi or Pirlo this must end in an exemplary ban.

 

It shouldn't matter, but it likely will, for the simple reason that the money at stake is not the same.

 

You're presuming that FIFA is a reputable organization with a history of doing what is right. What on earth would lead you to such a conclusion?

 

But Suarez obviously lost his balance and accidentally tripped onto Chiellini's shoulder. It's not his fault that his teeth point outwards.

 

Very, very forward.

 

Suarez banned for nine matches and for four months "from any football activity" after biting Chiellini.



Lenient.

 

Well... Liverpool will be fuming... And Suarez can forget about a transfer...

 

It depends on whether Liverpool will laughably stand by him yet again or if they had wanted to transfer him out and let another club deal with his idiocy. If it is the former I am sure they will be privately delighted if it means they get another season out of him.

 

If those 9 games would have been world cup games it would have been better. It basically meant no more Suarez at the WC
Now i hope those 9 games involve qualifiers against Brazil Argentina Chile and Colombia
And good thing his number is not 23
Liverpool supporters must be fuming and not at Suarez particulary