27th June, 2014
Online bookmaker 888poker has terminated its sponsorship contract with Uruguayan striker Luis Suarez following his unprofessional conduct in the World Cup.
Suarez, who bit Italian defender Giorgio Chiellini during his team’s Group D win on Tuesday 24 June, was kicked out of the tournament with immediate effect and fined 100,000 Swiss francs ($112,000).
Football’s governing body imposed a four-month ban on all football activities, a nine-game international ban and the fine. The punishment took immediate effect, meaning Suarez misses Uruguay’s second round match against Colombia on Saturday in Rio de Janeiro.
“Such behaviour cannot be tolerated on any football pitch, and in particular not at a FIFA World Cup when the eyes of millions of people are on the stars on the field,” FIFA Disciplinary Committee chief Claudio Sulser said.
The ban from football activity prevents him from entering the stadium for Saturday’s game. It will also hit his club career with Liverpool in England’s Premier League as he cannot play until the end of October.
The nine-match will likely to rule Suarez out of Uruguay’s defence of the Copa America in 2015.
The sanction was the toughest ever handed down for foul play at a World Cup, surpassing the eight-match ban against Italy’s Mauro Tassotti in 1994 for elbowing Spain’s Luis Enrique.
It is the third time Liverpool star Suarez has been banned for biting players following incidents in 2010 in the Dutch league and 2013 in England.
He also received a long ban in 2011 for racially abusing Manchester United’s French international Patrice Evra.
Sportswear giant Adidas said Thursday 26 June that it would stop using Luis Suarez, one of its key promotional stars, for World Cup adverts after his four-month ban from football activities for biting Italian Giorgio Chiellini.
“Adidas fully backs FIFA’s decision. We do not accept the recent behaviour of Luis Suarez and shall remind him of the high standards we expect of our players,” a spokeswoman told AFP.
“We have no plan to use Suarez for any other marketing activities during the 2014 FIFA World Cup.”