FIFA bans Suarez for 4 months for biting opponent

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — FIFA has banned Uruguay striker Luis Suarez from all football activities for four months for biting an opponent at the World Cup, ruling him out of the rest of the tournament and the start of the upcoming Premier League season.

The ban also covers Uruguay’s next nine international games, which goes beyond the next four months and rules him out of next year’s Copa America. FIFA also fined the Liverpool striker 100,000 Swiss francs ($112,000).

The ban is effective immediately, meaning Suarez will miss Uruguay’s round-of-16 game against Colombia on Saturday.

Suarez bit Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini during Uruguay’s 1-0 win in the group stage.

Claudio Sulser, chairman of the FIFA disciplinary committee, says “such behavior cannot be tolerated on any football pitch and particularly at the World Cup.”