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 The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) began its hearing on
Friday into Uruguay forward Luis Suarez's appeal against his ban for
biting Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini in a World Cup match.
Suarez, wearing a checked shirt, brushed aside photographers and
refused to make any comment as he arrived by taxi at the CAS
headquarters in a Lausanne suburb.
The 27-year-old has been banned from all soccer activity for four
months and suspended for nine competitive internationals by FIFA
following the incident which shocked audiences worldwide.
Suarez, who has left Liverpool and joined Barcelona since the
incident, has already lost an appeal before FIFA’s own disciplinary
committee.
Banned twice before for biting, he initially denied sinking his
teeth into Chiellini but then apologized for the incident one week
later.
The hearing, expected to last all day, was being held behind closed
doors and CAS said in a statement that "the final decision is likely
to be rendered some days after the conclusion of the hearing."
The ban means that Suarez will not be able to make his Barcelona
debut until the end of October and will miss the whole of next
year's Copa America in Chile, when Uruguay play their next
competitive matches.
Uruguay will play a minimum of three and maximum of six matches at
the Copa, meaning that Suarez will also miss between three and six
matches of the 2018 World Cup qualifying campaign.
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"The biggest issue is the nine matches because it could mean, depending on
the performance of Uruguay in the Copa America, that Suarez could be
prevented from playing (for Uruguay) until 2016," said Daniel Cravo, a
lawyer representing the Uruguayan Football Association (AUF).
"(That) is a long journey for a player who is already 27 years," he told
reporters. "We have to have a controlled optimism because we have to
respect the panel."
(Reporting by Brian Homewood. Editing by Patrick Johnston)
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