Liverpool forward Luis Suarez has
been suspended for ten games by
the Football Association after
being found guilty of violent
conduct for his bite on Chelsea
defender Branislav Ivanovic.
The Uruguay international has
until Friday to appeal the
decision, with the player's club
stating they are "shocked and
disappointed at the severity" of
the punishment. Suarez, 26, was caught on
camera biting Ivanovic's arm
during Sunday's 2-2 draw at
Anfield. Referee Kevin Friend did not see
the incident and so retrospective
action was taken by the Football
Association, with Suarez and
Liverpool accepting the charge of
violent conduct on Tuesday. But the Uruguayan, who was
suspended for seven games in
2010 for biting an opponent when
playing for Ajax, did not agree
with the FA's assertion that a
three-game ban would be insufficient punishment for his
actions. However, a statement on the FA
website on Wednesday read: "Luis
Suarez has been suspended for a
total of ten matches after an
Independent Regulatory
Commission today ruled on a charge of violent conduct. "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. "This follows an incident with
Chelsea's Branislav Ivanovic in
Sunday's fixture at Anfield. 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. "Suarez has until midday on
Friday 26 April to appeal the
additional suspension, above the
standard three matches." Liverpool managing director Ian
Ayre responded to the decision
via a statement on the club's
official website. He said: "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."