Luis Suárez Letter About Infamous Biting Incident: ‘I Lost My Balance’

On Tuesday, June 24 during the World Cup match of Italy vs. Uruguay at the Dunas arena in Natal, Brazil, everyone watched in shock as Uruguayan striker Luis Suárez bit Italian defender Giorgio Chiellini in one of the most dramatic games so far. Uruguay ended up beating Italy 1-0 and advancing into the Round of 16. Italy was eliminated from the tournament. Suárez was banned from all soccer related activities for four months and from nine international matches.

FIFA also fined Suárez with $112,000 USD. Meanwhile, Chiellini deemed the ban “excessive.” “I sincerely hope he will be allowed to stay close to his teammates during the games, because such a ban is really alienating for a player,” he said in a blog post. After a lot of speculation on why Suárez bit the Italian defender, countless memes and several parodies, the Uruguayan striker sent a letter to FIFA’s disciplinary panel explaining the incident in his own words.

In the letter, dated June 25, Suarez wrote: "In no way did it happen how you have described, as a bite or intent to bite." The player's defense is in Paragraph Six of FIFA's disciplinary committee ruling. "After the impact... I lost my balance, making my body unstable and falling on top of my opponent." Suárez continued, "At that moment I hit my face against the player leaving a small bruise on my cheek and a strong pain in my teeth."

However, the panel dismissed the argument and ruled the bite "deliberate, intentional and without provocation," stated in Paragraph 26 of the panel's conclusions. Meanwhile, football's international governing body has been formally informed of an appeal against Suárez's ban. The Uruguay football federation will now have a further seven days to prepare the paperwork for the appeal.