Luis Suarez is reportedly considering his future in English football in the aftermath of receiving a 10 game ban for biting Branislav Ivanovic.
The striker is reported to feel victimised by the length of the ban he has received following a ruling by an independent regulatory commission and, with many interested parties on the continent, will now consider quitting English football. Juventus have retained an interest in the Uruguayan, while Bayern Munich hold the advantage of new boss Pep Guardiola having Suarez’s brother, Pere, as his agent. Atletico Madrid is also reportedly an option as Radamel Falcao now looks set to join Chelsea.
Suarez was handed an eight game ban, and a £40,000 fine, for racially absing Patrice Evra in 2011 and the independent regulatory commission might have taken that into account when making their ruling, however their reasons will not be made public until Liverpool and Suarez have been received the report.
Suarez was banned for 7 games by the Dutch FA for a biting incident while playing for Ajax, an act which proved to be his last in Dutch football. This incident, however, cannot be taken into account in the decision regarding his offences against Ivanovic.
Suarez has until noon on Friday to appeal the decision and he would miss the first six games of next season if the ban is not reduced. Should he move abroad the FA would work to ensure he would still have to sit out his suspension.
Ian Ayre, Liverpool’s managing director, said yesterday:
"Both the club and player are shocked and disappointed at the severity of today's independent regulatory commission decision. We await the written reasons tomorrow before making any further comment."
The FA released a statement yesterday:
"A three-person independent regulatory commission today upheld the FA's claim that a suspension of three matches was clearly insufficient and the player will serve a further seven first-team matches in addition to the standard three. The suspension begins with immediate effect.
"The Liverpool forward had accepted a charge of violent conduct but had denied the FA's claim that the standard three-match sanction was insufficient for the offence. The incident was not seen by the match officials and has therefore been retrospectively reviewed. Suárez has until midday on Friday 26 April to appeal the additional suspension, above the standard three matches."
