Luis Suarez is a prolific Uruguayan striker. He is a very deadly on the field. His career has seen him play all over the world. Despite this kind of reputation, there exists another one. He has been known to do dirty actions on the field that has resulted in numerous punishments.
This hasn't stopped him. He has recently been reprimanded for spitting at officials.
Suarez’s first ban for biting an opposition player came during his time with Dutch side, Ajax Amsterdam. On 20 November 2010, Suarez was captaining the side during their Eredivisie match against PSV Eindhoven and bit Otman Bakkal on the shoulder in stoppage time during their 0-0 draw.
Ajax suspended him for two matches and fined him an undisclosed amount, which the club said they would donate to a, "good cause." The Dutch daily newspaper, De Telegraaf, branded Suárez the, "Cannibal of Ajax." The KNVB increased Suárez's suspension to seven league matches. Suárez apologised for his actions through a video he uploaded to his Facebook page
Suarez was once again in the middle of a controversy after biting Chelsea defender, Branislav Ivanovic’s right arm during a 2-2 draw in the league. It was an eventful game for Suarez, who gave away a penalty before bagging the equaliser in stoppage time.
It wasn't noticed by the officials. The bite prompted UK Prime Minister, David Cameron, to call on the FA to take a hard line with Suárez: the FA charged him with violent conduct and he was fined an undisclosed sum by his club. Contrary to claims from Suárez, Ivanović did not accept an apology. Suárez accepted the violent conduct charge but denied the FA's claim the standard punishment of three matches was clearly insufficient for his offence.
A three-man independent panel appointed by the FA decided on a ten-game ban for Suárez, who didn't appeal the ban; the panel criticised Suárez for not appreciating "the seriousness" of the incident when he argued against a long ban.
The panel also wanted to send a "strong message that such deplorable behaviours do not have a place in football", while noting that "all players in the higher level of the game are seen as role models, have the duty to act professionally and responsibly, and set the highest example of good conduct to the rest of the game – especially to young players."
He was handed a 10-game ban by the FA and was also fined by Liverpool after pleading guilty to a violent conduct charge.
In the 2011-12 season, then Liverpool player Suarez was handed an eight-match ban and a £40 000 fine by the Football Association (FA) after he was found guilty of racially abusing Manchester United’s Patrice Evra at Anfield in 2011.
Suarez denied the allegations and so did his club, with the Liverpool players wearing T-shirts in support of Suarez in the warm-up of its Premier League clash with Wigan.
After a 1–1 draw against Manchester United on 15 October 2011, Suárez was accused of racially abusing Evra and the FA opened up an investigation into the incident. Suárez wrote on his Twitter and Facebook pages that he was upset by the accusation and denied the claims.
On 16 November, the FA announced it would charge Suárez with, "abusive and/or insulting words and/or behaviour contrary to FA rules," including, "a reference to the ethnic origin and/or colour and/or race of Patrice Evra."
Liverpool later released a statement announcing Suárez would plead innocent, adding they would "remain fully supportive" of him. On 20 December, the FA concluded a seven-day hearing, handing Suárez an eight-match ban and a £40 000 fine for racially abusing Evra.
In their next meeting in February, during the pre-game handshakes, Suárez avoided shaking Evra's hand, for which Suárez and Dalglish were later forced to apologise. Suárez was also banned for one match for making an obscene gesture towards Fulham fan
This is perhaps one of the most notable moments of the 2014 FIFA World Cup that is still talked about. Uruguay was facing Italy in a crucial group stage fixture when Suarez bit Italy defender, Giorgio Chiellini, on the shoulder before going to the floor claiming a hit to the face. Suarez was let off without any card and Uruguay went onto win the game 1-0 and book its spot in the round of 16.
However, he was subsequently handed a nine-match international ban and was suspended from all football activities for four months while also getting a fine of approximately £83 000.
On 24 July, Suárez and his lawyers filed an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) and requested the sanctions be reduced or the suspension to be lifted. The parties were heard at a hearing at the CAS offices in Lausanne, Switzerland, on 8 August.
Six days later, the CAS confirmed the ban imposed by FIFA against Suárez, who remained suspended from football for four months, as well as a nine-match ban in internationals, the first of which was served in Uruguay's round of 16 match against Colombia in the 2014 World Cup. However, the CAS removed the player's "football-related activities" ban and he was allowed to train with Barcelona. As a result of this ban, Suárez was banned from participating in the 2015 Copa América.
The CAS permitted Suárez to play in friendly matches and he made his Barcelona debut on 18 August against Club León of Mexico at the Camp Nou, replacing Rafinha for the final 14 minutes of an eventual 6–0 win in the Gamper Trophy. Fellow forwards, Lionel Messi and Neymar had already been substituted off by the time Suárez took to the pitch.
Fast forward to now and The 38-year-old striker, who was already sanctioned for six matches by the Leagues Cup committee, was caught in the middle of ugly post-match scenes following Miami’s 3-0 loss in Seattle. With over 69 000 fans inside Lumen Field, the night should've been a celebration for the Sounders, but Suarez’s behaviour dominated the headlines.
Footage showed the former Liverpool and Barcelona forward stepping on the foot of Sounders security chief, Gene Ramirez, before spitting directly at him. Suarez was also involved in a heated clash with Seattle midfielder, Obed Vargas, who had earlier been held in a headlock, while Sergio Busquets appeared to land a punch on the teenager.
MLS confirmed the new punishment. "The league has a responsibility to uphold standards of conduct on and off the pitch," a statement read. "This behaviour fell well below those standards." Suarez will now miss Miami’s next clash with Seattle in the regular season, adding to the pressure on Gerardo Martino’s squad.
In a recent interview, former USMNT midfielder, Sacha Kljestan, offered details on the Suarez incident.
Before diving into the specific theme about Suarez’s behaviour, Kljestan talked about the overall situation and said that because of that fight, people will forget how good the game was or how good the Sounders played.
Which is true. Everything that happens before the fight doesn’t matter; everything was overshadowed by the altercation at the end of the match.
"First and foremost, I would say it's a shame that that happened because that's what goes viral. What doesn't go viral is how good of a game it was, how well the Sounders played, the spectacle of 69 000 fans at Lumen Field and Christian Roldan with an unbelievable performance. All of that gets overshadowed by the end of the game and the ugliness."
What someone who saw it on TV doesn’t understand is that players came off the bench just to insult and throw punches at each other. Someone familiar with the sport understands that incidents like this happen in other leagues and tournaments as well.
You might laugh when you see clips of similar fights on TikTok or YouTube but when it happens for the first time in a major tournament involving your country’s teams, it’s a completely different feeling. Suddenly, you feel embarrassed and shocked by what you’re witnessing, especially if you’re a Herons fan.
This time, Inter Miami players were wrong and the ones who started everything. The former USNMT midfielder knew this and said, "And I'll just say plain and simple, it was embarrassing for anybody involved with Inter Miami. I think every player, every coach, manager, president, owner, fan of that club should and would be embarrassed after that, to watch their experienced players start a fight like that, to see guys off the bench running on the field to throw punches."
Regarding Luis Suarez, Kljestan is true. The Uruguayan striker is known for his fights and aggressiveness towards his rivals. In this past year, he has been a role model on the field, making people think he has matured with age.
That’s not the case. When the former Liverpool player is provoked, his fuse is lit and the dynamite explodes.
After it goes off, Suárez is capable of anything - biting or spitting, actions rarely seen in football, but ones the Uruguayan can produce.
The former LA Galaxy player explains: "We've watched him in MLS. It's been about a year and a half now, and he's been on his best behavior. We've almost forgotten of all of his past transgressions. But those all come roaring back in that moment where he started another fight. He's gone overboard this time, spitting on a staffer."
I find hard to believe that Suarez keeps on doing what he does. A regular person would learn from what they did and never do it again. He needs to be treated for his impulsive behaviour. At this day and age, he will never get away with it.
I wouldn't classify him as a role model.