Uruguay manager quits FIFA over Suarez ban

Rio de Janeiro, June 28 (IANS/EFE) Uruguay manager Oscar Tabarez has quit his position in the FIFA Strategic Committee over the ban issued against his striker Luis Suarez after biting Italian defender Giorgio Chiellini June 24 during the World Cup.

“It is not wise or prudent to be in an organisation with people, those who exerted pressure to promote this decision and those who rendered the punishment, who managed procedures and values very different to those I have,” Tabarez said, reports EFE.

Tabarez added that nobody imagined that the punishment would be this harsh. FIFA suspended Suarez for nine international matches and also banned him from participating in any football-related activity for four months.

The penalty, which also includes a fine of 100,000 Swiss Francs, will start Saturday when Uruguay take on Colombia in the Round of 16.

“I don’t deny that we were waiting a punishment but we never imagined the severity of the punishment meted out,” he said.