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Suarez with his children in Montevideo this week. AP/Press Association Images
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'I hit my face against the player' - Suarez denies biting Chiellini

In his statement to FIFA, the Uruguay striker claims he lost his footing and fell on his Italian opponent.

LUIS SUAREZ HAS told FIFA’s disciplinary panel that he did not deliberately bite Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini at the World Cup.

“In no way it happened how you have described, as a bite or intent to bite,” the Uruguay striker wrote in Spanish in a letter dated June 25.

The player’s defense is in paragraph 6 of FIFA’s disciplinary committee ruling, which has been seen by The Associated Press.

“After the impact … I lost my balance, making my body unstable and falling on top of my opponent,” Suarez wrote in his submission to the panel which met Wednesday, one day after Uruguay beat Italy 1-0 in a decisive group-stage match.

“At that moment I hit my face against the player leaving a small bruise on my cheek and a strong pain in my teeth,” Suarez said.

Brazil WCup Luis Suarez Suarez holding his teeth as Chiellini protests. AP / Press Association Images AP / Press Association Images / Press Association Images

However, the seven-man panel which met on Wednesday evening dismissed the argument.

The bite was “deliberate, intentional and without provocation,” the ruling stated in paragraph No. 26 of the panel’s conclusions.

Suarez was banned for nine Uruguay matches and four months from all football. He was also fined 100,000 Swiss francs ($112,000).

The panel, chaired by former Switzerland international Claudio Sulser, included members from the Cook Islands, Hong Kong, Pakistan, Panama, South Africa and Singapore.

The ruling confirmed that referee Marco Rodriguez of Mexico acknowledged in his match report that he missed Suarez’s bite. So did his two assistants and the fourth official.

I haven’t seen the incident because the ball was in another sector of the pitch,” Rodriguez writes in paragraph No. 4 of witness submissions in the 11-page document.

Suarez has also posted a message on Facebook and Twitter this afternoon thanking fans for their support:

“Hi all, I write this post to give thanks to the outpouring of support and love I am receiving,” he wrote.

“Both myself and my family really appreciate it. Thank you very much for being by my side and I want all my colleagues today we support selection for the match against Colombia.”

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Author
Associated Foreign Press
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