The whole football world was talking about Luis Suarez yesterday as he bit the arm of Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic.
The Story dominates the back pages of today’s newspapers and he is even being followed on Twitter by Mike Tyson who famously bit off a part of Evander Holyfield’s ear in a heavyweight title fight.
Suarez quickly apologised for the incident. In a statement he said: “I am deeply sorry for my inexcusable behaviour earlier today during our match against Chelsea. I have issued an apology and have tried to contact Branislav Ivanovic to speak to him personally. I apologise also to my manager, playing colleagues and everyone at Liverpool Football Club for letting them down.”
Too little too late for some
Liverpool managing director Ian Ayre was keen to control the hysteria. He said: “We will deal with the matter internally and await any action from the FA.”
However, Suarez’s apology is too little too late for many people who are calling on Liverpool to sell the Uruguayan. There is a strong feeling that he is damaging the good name of his famous club after his latest controversy.
The Sun’s Steven Howard believes Suarez has embarrassed Liverpool for the last time and the club must look to sell their star striker. He said the Uruguayan was already in the last chance saloon after serving an eight game ban for racially abusing Manchester United’s Patrice Evra.
‘Ban him for the rest of the season’
The Daily Telegraph’s Henry Winter said that the incident was ‘beyond a football matter’ and that Suarez was a ‘liability’ to Liverpool. He concluded that the Uruguayan has shamed the club too many times and they would be better off without him.
Oliver Kay, writing in the Times, asked: “What on earth was he thinking of?” He went on to suggest that rather than going through any thought process, the Liverpool striker seemed to have acted on instinct. He said: “whether you are one of the best footballers in the world or a two-year-old in nursery, is a disturbing instinct to have.”
Former referee Graham Poll believes Suarez must face retrospective action. He wrote in the Daily Mail: “The FA must act and surely ban Suarez for the rest of the season.”
Nobody bigger than the club
However, Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers refused to be pressured into making definitive comments in the heat of the moment.
He said: “There is certainly no one bigger than this football club, as a player or a manager. As football managers, staff and players we’re representing this great football club off the field and particularly on the field. It’s just not the time to comment realistically on it now. I’ll review it with other people at the club and we’ll talk about it after.”