Italy and England fans were united yesterday in their desire to see Uruguay striker Luis Suarez punished after he appeared to dig his teeth into Italian defender Giorgio Chiellini’s shoulder on Tuesday – a gesture which Malta coach Pietro Ghedin described as insulting.
Supporters of the England team told Times of Malta they would be happy for Suarez to be penalised, especially after the Liverpool player scored two goals against them in the Lions’ second defeat of the World Cup.
Meanwhile, Italy fans – whose team crashed out of the competition to a Uruguay goal that came moments after the Suarez incident – are looking forward to payback after Fifa opened disciplinary proceedings him.
Suarez has already been banned from football twice for biting. He now faces a maximum ban of 24 matches or two years if Fifa takes retrospective action.
Soon after the incident, social media were replete with memes mocking Suarez. “If you cannot beat them, eat them,” one said, while another replaced the shark’s head in the Jaws’ film poster with Suarez’s.
Auxiliary Bishop Charles Scicluna took to Twitter, posting a picture of Chiellini’s bitten shoulder captioned: @TheWorldCup: Giorgio Chiellini’s shoulder after Luis Suarez bit him... Shame! Is this sport?
When contacted yesterday, Malta coach Ghedin described the striker’s move as an “insulting gesture” which was neither clean nor honest.
Although the referee reportedly did not spot the incident, despite the Italian defender immediately pulling down his shirt to show a mark on his shoulder, Fifa’s rules allow the use of video to punish players retrospectively. Ghedin said if video proved Suarez’s guilt, he would be punished.
“These things should not happen – the incident was inconceivable. That wasn’t sport.”
Meanwhile, while expressing disappointment at the match and noting that the Italian team did not play well, he said the World Cup matches were difficult.
“We had hoped for a better show which unfortunately we didn’t get... That’s life. Now we need to reflect on the mistakes and improve for the future.”
Apart from the onslaught of reports about Suarez’s future, some online commentators expressed concern over the striker’s psychological health, since this was not the first time he was involved in controversies.
Fr Hillary Tagliaferro, founder of the Youth Football Association and a Brazil supporter, noted that a long suspension would have a toll on his career.
He believes Suarez should be handed a shorter punishment – between three to five months – and in the meantime receive psychological treatment to deal with the problem.
If he received a long suspension he might still not learn the lesson and repeat the mistakes, he said, comparing it to a prison sentence without rehabilitation.