Suarez: I was treated ‘worse than a hooligan’

Luis Suarez says that he was treated “worse than a hooligan” after his bite at the 2014 World Cup.

Uruguay striker Suarez bit Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini in the group stages of the 2014 tournament, with the then-Liverpool forward subsequently banned for the next four months by FIFA.

Suarez, who moved to Barcelona that same summer, was prevented from even training during his four-month exile, and was also banned for nine Uruguay matches.

The 29-year-old has now served his international suspension, and is available to face Brazil and Peru in the upcoming qualifiers for the 2018 World Cup.

Discussing his punishment for the Chiellini bite, Suarez told El Observador: “It’s been such a long time so I’m obviously very keen, but I’m also relieved that it’s finally all over.

“The worst is behind me and now it’s time to enjoy playing for Uruguay again, which is what I’ve spent so long waiting for.

“I was treated worse than a hooligan, because banning someone from a football match, a training session, is just incomprehensible.

“Four months without being able to play a competitive game and a two-year international ban is too much. It just doesn’t make sense. It’s almost worse than if I’d failed a doping test.”