This is a fair assessment of the situation. While a Liverpool supporter, I have to hold my hands up and say what Suarez did was indefensible. The problem I have is with the length of the ban. In all honesty, I was expecting a 2 year international ban (given how he is a repeated offender and given his reputation). A 4 month ban from all football activities is particularly harsh on Liverpool as a club, not on Suarez as an individual. However, if this is what it takes to wake Suarez up to just how unacceptable his behavior is, then so be it. A couple of comments on this ban by FIFA, though. First, I strongly believe that any punishment meted out should have included mandatory counseling. This is a clearly troubled individual who, as gifted as he may be, possesses a strong self-destructive streak. Both for his well-being and as a precedent, FIFA should have mandated that he undergo psychiatric evaluation and receive treatment before he is allowed back on to a football field. Second, FIFA needs to standardize their reaction to violent conduct and unsporting behavior. At this World Cup alone, as some have rightly pointed out, Alex Song, Diego Costa, and Antonio Valencia, to name a few, have acted in a manner which was unsporting and downright dangerous towards their opponents. FIFA needs to act against all such behavior, and not a select few which gain widespread notoriety, in order to maintain some semblance of equality.
Posted on: Fri, 27 Jun 2014 07:38:42 +0000
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