Luis Suarez told FIFA he did not bite Giorgio Chiellini intentionally, but in fact fell into the Italian, hurting his teeth in the process.

“In no way it happened how you have described, as a bite or intent to bite,” Suarez wrote in a letter to the FIFA disciplinary panel.

“After the impact ... I lost my balance, making my body unstable and falling on top of my opponent.

“At that moment I hit my face against the player leaving a small bruise on my cheek and a strong pain in my teeth,” Suárez said.

The FIFA disciplinary panel rejected the Uruguayan’s claims, saying the bite was “deliberate, intentional and without provocation.”

The referee, Marco Rodriguez of Mexico, told FIFA he didn’t see the bite, writing in his match report: “I haven’t seen the incident because the ball was in another sector of the pitch.”

Suarez was banned from football for four months, suspended for nine international matches and fined €82,000.