Luis Suarez has embarrassed Liverpool with his feeble defence of biting incident and is now set to be offloaded to Barcelona

• Liverpool to sell Suarez after his defence of biting incident is revealed
  
• Forward claimed to a FIFA panel that he 'fell' into Giorgio Chiellini
• Banned from all football four months as well as nine international games
  
• Reds now hoping to sell him to Barcelona and bring Alexis Sanchez in

By ROB DRAPER FOR THE MAIL ON SUNDAY

Published: 17:42 EST, 28 June 2014 | Updated: 17:49 EST, 28 June 2014

Luis Suarez made the extraordinary claim to FIFA’s disciplinary committee that he ‘did not bite or intend to bite’ Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini — but ‘fell’ into him.

And his refusal to accept responsibility for the offence or even to admit that it took place appears to have backfired and resulted in the severe sanction from FIFA — he is banned from all football for four months as well as nine international games.

Suarez’s defence will come as a further embarrassment and Liverpool are now preparing to sell the player to Barcelona. They are hoping to bring Chile and Barca striker Alexis Sanchez the other way as part of the deal. 

VIDEO Scroll down to watch Spirit of Suarez lives on as Uruguay fans wear Luis masks

Accident? Luis Suarez told FIFA he did not deliberately bite Giorgio Chiellini but fell on top of him

Big miss: FIFA have been formally informed of Uruguay's appeal against Suarez's ban

About time: Suarez has delayed his apology to Chiellini but has promised he will never behave like that again

FIFA’s written reasons to the Uruguayan FA for the sanction emerged yesterday and the document quotes from Suarez’s explanation of the collision with Chiellini.

Suarez submission to FIFA said: ‘In the run-up to the impact, my knees came together, I lost my balance and that destabilised my body and I fell into my opponent. In that moment, my face came into collision with the player, causing a small bruise on my cheekbone and a lot of pain to my teeth, which caused the referee to stop play. That is what happened and in no event did I, as is written in the document, “bite” or “try to bite”.’

However, the attempt to deny the incident appears to have been an enormous misjudgment by Suarez and his legal team and resulted in a more severe sanction than if contrition been shown.

The FIFA disciplinary commission noted ‘at no point did the player show any contrition or repentance of any type, nor did he admit any violation of FIFA regulations and has therefore not shown any knowledge of having committed any offence.’

In applying the sanction, the committee considered ‘the grave danger of repetition, the exceedingly abnormal nature (of the offence) in the context of a football match and the intention to harm the opponent.’ It was also noted that he had been sanctioned previously for this offence in club football.

Suarez’s latest offence means he will have been banned for a total of 47 matches for three separate bites and racially abusing Manchester United’s Patrice Evra.

Last night, he made his first public comment since arriving back home in Montevideo, having been thrown out of the Uruguay camp by FIFA.

In a tweet, he said: ‘Hi all, I write this post to give thanks to the outpouring of support and love I am receiving.

‘Both myself and my family really appreciate it. Thank you very much for being by my side and I want all my colleagues today to know we support the national team for the match against Colombia.’

Painful: Suarez fell to the ground and held his teeth straight after the encounter with centre back Chiellini

Suarez will now leave Liverpool, with the Premier League club working to extract the best possible deal from a difficult situation.

The club will ask for £80million, although Barcelona and Suarez believe the transfer can be done for £65m, based on a buy-out clause. Nevertheless, Chile striker Sanchez could be key to negotiations. Barca are willing to sell him, Liverpool want to buy him but the player needs to be convinced and Arsenal are likely to bid, although they have not registered their intent as yet.

Liverpool will now begin a £120m rebuilding project to fill the void left by Suarez.

Adam Lallana’s £23m move will be announced tomorrow and the Belgian striker Divock Origi will join at the end of the World Cup for £10m — although he is expected to spend next season on loan with  current club Lille.

Liverpool will look to add £15m Southamton defender Dejan Lovren and £25m Benfica winger Lazar Markovic to their summer transfer spending, which has already included £9m for Emre Can and £4m for Rickie Lambert.

Liverpool will be forced to end up paying Suarez £3m in wages for doing nothing if they don’t sell him this summer.

The Uruguayan is occupying the minds of owner John W Henry and the Liverpool hierarchy as they work out what to do next with their troubled striker.

Last night, the Anfield club were poring over the FIFA ruling handed to them by Suarez’s lawyers.

The Premier League club has its hands tied, however.

Although the Uruguayan FA has handed in a formal appeal over  Suarez’s punishment, Liverpool will have to abide by FIFA’s final decision and cannot mount their own, separate appeal.

In addition, withholding Suarez’s wages while he is suspended from playing and training is not an option under agreements the Premier League has made with the Professional Footballers’ Association — and FIFA’s own rules.

Evidence: Chiellini looked outraged as he showed the referee the apparent point of impact on his shoulder

Show of support: Uruguay's WAGs have given their backing to Luis Suarez following the striker's ban

Message for his followers: Suarez took to Twitter to thank his fans for the messages of support they'd sent

Thumbs up: Suarez gestures to fans from the balcony of his home after returning to Uruguay

Rapturous reception: Suarez was joined by his children as he greeted the army of fans who had gathered

Suarez’s comments after scoring twice against England in the Group D clash — in which he claimed that he had been ‘laughed at’ in England — were also seen  as stirring upanimosity and an indication of his desire to play in La Liga.

But Liverpool owner Henry showed last year, when he rejected out-of-hand Arsenal’s bid of £40m- and-a-pound for Suarez, that he will only let the player go to Barca if they meet his market value of around £70million — despite this third biting offence.

 Despite the furore surrounding Suarez, Liverpool are proceeding with plans to bolster Rodgers’ squad for next season when they will play in the Champions League after a five-year absence.

The protracted move for Lallana should be finalised and announced within the next 48 hours and the club also has an interest in Belgian striker Origi — who will be involved in his country’s World Cup quarter-final  against USA on Tuesday.

Southampton defender Lovren, Serbian striker Markovic and Croatia winger Ivan Perisic, of German side Wolfsburg, are also being looked at while Rodgers has stated his intention to buy a left-back, too.

It is all part of Liverpool’s rebuilding plan that has been  complicated by Suarez.