• Premier League

Panel: Suarez didn't appreciate extent of his crime

ESPN staff

The Football Association's Independent Regulatory Commission believed that Luis Suarez had not "fully appreciated the gravity and seriousness of this truly exceptional incident'', and that was a contributing factor for his 10-game ban for biting Chelsea's Branislav Ivanovic.

Suarez contested the FA's decision to seek a longer ban than the standard three-game suspension for violent conduct.

However, one surprising aspect of the report was that the Commission said it " did not take into consideration any previous disciplinary records of Mr Suarez and considered the offence in isolation".

The three-man panel featured Thura KT Win (Chairman of The FA Women's Premier League), Roger Pawley (Secretary of the Cambridgeshire FA), Brian Talbot (former Ipswich Town, Toronto Metros, Arsenal, Watford, Stoke City, West Bromwich Albion, Fulham and Aldersho) while Mark Ives, the FA disciplinary manager, acted as secretary to the Commission and was assisted by Mr Rob Marsh, FA senior disciplinary assistant.

The Commission stated: "We believe it is our duty to discourage any players at any level from acting in such a deplorable manner or attempting to copy what they had seen on the television. The incident of biting an opponent is alien to football and must remain so.''

It went on to say: "It is completely unacceptable and such truly disgraceful behaviour could also lead to possible health issues.





"We took into consideration Mr Suarez's apology, his personal statement, supporting letter from Mr Brendan Rodgers and the letter from Ms Zoe Ward [Liverpool's secretary].


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