Luis Suarez: FIFA treated me like a hooligan

The Uruguayan was banned from any football-related activities for four months after he bit the defender during his country's 1-0 victory over Italy in the group stage at last summer's finals in Brazil.

His suspension was upheld by the Court of Arbitration for Sport - although a ban on him training was rescinded - and he returned to the pitch for both club and country last October.

Suarez remains frustrated with FIFA's initial verdict.

“A suspension is one thing, but I wasn't even able to train at the start [of the ban]. I was being treated than if I were a hooligan,” he told Kicker.

“During my [summer] holidays, I was even afraid of going to see my nephews play in Uruguay at youth level .

“As punishment, I couldn't step onto a football pitch, [a decision] which I still don't understand to this day.”

While a ban from all football-related activity may seem harsh on first inspection, Suarez brought it upon himself: he had been twice banned before for biting but re-offended. Basically, his actions seemed to suggest that the punishments handed down were insufficient. FIFA, it appears quite rightly, felt it had to increase the sanction. As for the hooligan comment, Suarez has bitten three separate professionals on three separate occasions. If a fan had done similar in the stands, it would not be unreasonable to imagine that said fan would be banned from stadia for life.

Read the original article on Football Espana - The ultimate website for English-speaking fans of Spanish football