'I lost my balance and my face fell into Chiellini leaving a strong pain in my teeth': Luis Suarez's laughable defence over World Cup bite...and he's now appealing his ban
- Uruguay striker said the incident was in 'no way' how it had been described
- Claimed to have fallen on top of the defender during the Group D fixture
- Then said that he 'bruised his cheek and had a strong pain in his teeth'
- Was banned for nine international matches and four months from all football
Bite defence: Luis Suarez has said he lost his balance and fell into Giorgio Chiellini at the World Cup
Luis Suarez has denied 'biting' Italian defendeer Giorgio Chielli, suggesting he lost his balance and fell onto him.
He told FIFA's disciplinary panel that he did not deliberately sink his teeth into the player, and that he was the person who was left in the most pain.
'In no way it happened how you have described, as a bite or intent to bite,' the Uruguay striker wrote in Spanish in a letter dated June 25.
He aqdded: 'After the impact ... I lost my balance, making my body unstable and falling on top of my opponent.'
The player's defense is in paragraph 6 of FIFA's disciplinary committee ruling.
Suarez wrote in his submission to the panel which met Wednesday, one day after Uruguay beat Italy 1-0 in a decisive group-stage match.
'At that moment I hit my face against the player leaving a small bruise on my cheek and a strong pain in my teeth,' Suarez said.
However, the seven-man panel which met on Wednesday evening dismissed the argument.
The bite was 'deliberate, intentional and without provocation,' the ruling stated in paragraph No. 26 of the panel's conclusions.
Suarez was banned for nine Uruguay matches and four months from all football. He was also fined 100,000 Swiss francs ($112,000).
The panel, chaired by former Switzerland international Claudio Sulser, included members from the Cook Islands, Hong Kong, Pakistan, Panama, South Africa and Singapore.
The ruling confirmed that referee Marco Rodriguez of Mexico acknowledged in his match report that he missed Suarez's bite. So did his two assistants and the fourth official.
'I haven't seen the incident because the ball was in another sector of the pitch,' Rodriguez writes in paragraph No. 4 of witness submissions in the 11-page document.
A FIFA spokesperson said that they had received a formal 'intention to appeal' from the AUF on Friday night and that the Uruguayans now have a further seven days to submit their written reasons for the appeal.
Suarez was banned on Thursday for Uruguay's next nine competitive international matches and from any involvement in football for four months after biting defender Giorgio Chiellini in their 1-0 Group D win over Italy.
When he returned home to Montevideo, he was pictured holding his children and greeting fans from his balcony
Pain: The player claimed that he came off worse after the incident because he had 'sore teeth'
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