The Cannibal

Most people know the FIFA World Cup as the biggest sporting event that happens every four years. It’s a time that players get to represent their homelands and prove that they are the best. Imagine what an honor it would be to walk on the field in front of sixty thousand fans and sing the national anthem of your country. However, for the Uruguayan striker Luis Suarez, that joy was cut short. On June 24, 2014 when Italy played Uruguay, things got out of hand just before the end of the game.

In the 80th minute Suarez and Chiellini, the Italian center back, were in the penalty box when Suarez leaned into Chiellini head-first into his shoulder. Both players went down immediately, and the referee stopped the game. While Luis Suarez was down clutching what looked like his teeth, Giorgio Chiellini and the rest of the Italian team sprinted over to the referee arguing over what happened. Chiellini lowered his shirt in the referee’s face to show him a bite mark while Suarez remained in pain on the ground. Nobody was carded, and after a few minutes the game continued. “El Charuah” Diego Godin scored a header in the 88th minute giving Uruguay the win and sending the four-time world champions back home. Afterwards, Suarez was fined 100,000 Swiss Francs or about $112,000. Chiellini stated, “Suarez is a sneak, I’d love to see if FIFA has the courage to use video evidence against him.”

Morris Hills’ soccer players and coaches were asked about what they thought about this incident and what it could mean for the future of soccer. Jake Katz, a left winger for the JV team, stated, “The situation was very unfortunate, and the punishment was fair and well deserved. For any future incidents, the punishments must be very strict to prevent any more foolish actions.” Silas Ridgway from the varsity team said that, “It was an unfortunate event that greatly affected Uruguay and himself.” JV Coach Roman said, “I think it portrays the sport in a bad light. The World Cup overall was a wonderful event, but sometimes negative situations like the bite can overshadow all of the other memorable and positive things that occurred.”

All in all, Luis Suárez will have had a lot of time to think about what he has done. His punishment officially ends on October 25, 2014, just in time for “El Classico,” when his club F.C. Barcelona plays Real Madrid C.F. in one of the biggest matches of the year. Let’s hope that this incident doesn’t happen for the fourth time. Who knows how severe the next punishment will be.