Football fan or not, no one can fail to have noticed the biting controversy surrounding Luis Suarez which has dominated the front and back pages for days.
And over the last 24 hours it has become even bigger headline news as Fifa have handed the Uruguayan a four-month ban on all footballing activities.
The federation imposed the ban on the £200,000-a-week Liverpool striker after his third biting incident, his latest victim being Italy’s Giorgio Chiellini in a World Cup group stage match.
The ban rules him out of the rest of this summer’s tournament in Brazil and also the first two months of Liverpool’s Premier League campaign.
Uruguay will appeal against the decision with Liverpool yet to announce whether they will continue to pay Suarez during the four months.
Here at MM, we took to the streets of Manchester to ask people:
‘Is the ban on Suarez too harsh?’
|
YES |
NO |
|
30% |
70% |
Simone Burton, 27, a carer from Salford, said: “I don’t think he has got long enough, he should be fined and not paid.
“Dogs get put down for less.”
A 60-year-old safety manager from London, who wished to remain anonymous, agreed and said: “The ban is not enough.
“It’s his third time; if it was his first time, fair enough but the guy has obviously got problems.”
Sports retail assistant Kurt Hall, 31, went further.
“He shouldn’t be allowed to play in this country again; there has been no player like him before.
“Maybe they play football like that where he comes from, I don’t know but he should not be allowed to play for an English side.”
Mum-of-three, Sheridan Holt, 50, a cleaner, was concerned about the effect such behaviour in public has on children.
She said: “I think the ban is right, kids might have been watching the game and might follow in his footsteps.”
Italian street-food vendor Roberto Vergine, 52, from Middleton, was also in support of the ban.
“Allowing biting and pushing and all that rubbish is not sending a good message to kids,” he told MM.
“It is not just because I am Italian, it is because he has done it before, the ban is not enough.”
Some people however agreed with the international ban but thought the ban at club level was unnecessarily severe.
Wayne Duckworth, 44, a machine operator from Burtonwood, said: “The two-year ban at international level is okay but I think they should give him a chance at club level, a warning, and then he could be banned if he does it again.
“Give him some help as well.”
Father and son Gary Bentley, 45, a nurse and Michael Bentley, 22, from Stoke agreed.
Michael said: “Liverpool is being punished for it and that’s not fair.”
Gary added: “It should be an international ban only but I think he’s definitely got problems that need sorting out.”
Tracy Mellor, 50, also a nurse from Stoke took a harsher line and said: “He should donate his wages for the length of the ban to the NHS.”
Image via Liverpool FC, with thanks.
