Brazil forward Fred believes the four month ban from football activity handed to Luis Suárez is “a bit too severe.”
The 27 year-old was found guilty by FIFA of biting Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini in Uruguay’s final Group D match against the Azzurri, a tie they won 1-0, and is now unavailable to play for Liverpool until the end of October.
As part of his suspension, Suárez will also miss nine competitive international matches, which includes the 2015 Copa América.
Given that this is Suárez’ third biting offence – he was found guilty of doing the same to then PSV midfielder Otman Bakkal while at Ajax in 2010 and Chelsea’s Branislav Ivanović last year – there has not been much sympathy for his substantial punishment. Fred admits, however, that he does feel for Suárez, who he thinks has been reprimanded too severely.
“You can’t deny that he made a mistake, but myself as a player, as a human being, I understand that inside, players get goosebumps. There’s tension, a fight for space,” he said, as reported by socceroos.com.
“I think that his punishment is a bit too severe, from my point of view. I debated this with a few people, and most people think that it was fair.
“In my point of view it can end an athlete’s career, four months, nine games and everyone all over it, and criticising the mistake he made.
“I do think he needs to be punished, but I would really like to see Suárez playing at this World Cup here in Brazil.”
The first game of Suárez’s international ban is Uruguay’s Round of 16 clash against Colombia at the Estádio do Maracanã on Saturday.
