Suarez apologizes to Chiellini for World Cup bite

Uruguay’s Luis Suarez looks out from his hotel in Natal, Brazil, Wednesday, June 25, 2014. On Thursday, June 26, 2014, FIFA banned Suarez for 9 games and 4 months for biting an opponent at the World Cup. AP PHOTO/HASSAN AMMAR

MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay–Disgraced Uruguay striker Luis Suarez apologized Monday to Italian defender Giorgio Chiellini for the bite that saw him banned for four months and expelled from the World Cup.

Suarez acknowledged for the first time that the Italian was bitten. “I deeply regret what occurred,” said the 27-year-old Liverpool striker.

“I apologize to Giorgio Chiellini and the entire football family,” said a statement on Suarez’s official Twitter account.

“I vow to the public there will never again be another incident like” it, he added.

Chiellini, who said the ban was excessive, reacted quickly to Suarez’s apology.

“It’s all forgotten. I hope FIFA will reduce your suspension,” he tweeted.

Suarez bit Chiellini during Uruguay’s 1-0 win over Italy on June 24 which took the South Americans into the World Cup last 16. They were beaten by Colombia on Sunday.

The prolific striker had denied the charges against him. He told a FIFA disciplinary commission that he had lost his balance and there was no bite.

But within 48 hours of the incident, Suarez was handed a four-month ban from all football activities, suspended from nine internationals and fined 100,000 Swiss francs (112,000 dollars). It was his third offencse of biting an opponent.

He returned on Friday to Uruguay where the sanction has caused national outrage. President Jose Mujica slammed FIFA leaders as “sons of bitches” for imposing the sanction.

But Suarez said: “After several days of being home with my family, I have had the opportunity to regain my calm and reflect about the reality of what occurred during the Italy-Uruguay match on June 24, 2014.

He said there had been “contradicting declarations” of the events but that he had no “intention of interfering with the good performance of my national team.

“The truth is that my colleague Giorgio Chiellini suffered the physical result of a bite in the collision he suffered with me. For this:

“I deeply regret what occurred.

“I apologize to Giorgio Chiellini and the entire football family.

“I vow to the public that there will never again be another incident like it.”

Despite Suarez’s denials, the disciplinary commission gave a damning assessment of Suarez’s actions in its final report, which was leaked to various media.

It said “the offense was carried out directly against an opposing player, while the ball was not being disputed, and it was done deliberately, intentionally and without provocation.”

Several football leaders inside and outside FIFA have said that Suarez–one of the best strikers in the world but also one of the most temperamental–should seek counseling.

FIFA general secretary Jerome Valcke said at the World Cup that Suarez had to “find a way to stop doing it. He should go through a treatment. It is definitely wrong.”

The international professional footballer’s union FIFPro said FIFA should have made mandatory treatment part of its sanction.

Many have pointed to Suarez’s past offenses, however.

He served a seven-game ban for biting a player in November 2010 when he was with Dutch side Ajax and a 10-game suspension after biting Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic while playing for Liverpool in April 2013.

Suarez also hurled racial abuse at Manchester United’s Patrice Evra during a Premier League game in October 2011 and was banned for eight matches.

At the 2010 World Cup he caused a storm of controversy by stopping a certain winning goal by Ghana on the goal line with his hand. Uruguay went on to win a penalty shootout.

Since the latest furor, Suarez has lost a sponsorship deal with a gambling website, and Adidas, the sports equipment giant, said it would not use any Suarez adverts during the World Cup.

But media reports say that Barcelona and Real Madrid are still interested in buying the player from Liverpool.