Luis Suarez, Uruguay’s star forward, has been suspended for nine international matches and has been banned from soccer for four months following an investigation into his biting of Italian defender Giorgio Chiellini.

Luis Suarez Suspended

FIFA announced Suarez’s punishment Thursday morning. With the ruling, Suarez is ineligible to compete in Uruguay’s upcoming round of 16 World Cup game versus Colombia Saturday afternoon. The 27-year-old standout will also be unable to compete with his club team – the English Premiere League’s Liverpool FC – for the first couple of months of their season, which starts Aug. 16.

Suarez has been fined roughly $111,000 for the incident.

“Such behavior cannot be tolerated on any football pitch, and in particular not at a FIFA World Cup when the eyes of millions of people are on the stars on the field. The Disciplinary Committee took into account all the factors of the case and the degree of Mr Suárez’s guilt in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Code. The decision comes into force as soon it is communicated,” said Claudio Sulser, chairman of the FIFA Disciplinary Committee.

Uruguayan FA chief has reportedly called FIFA president Sepp Blatter, according to ITV’s Steve Scott.

Suarez Bites Chiellini

In the 79th minute of Uruguay’s win-or-bust match against Italy, who only needed a tie to move on to the round of 16, Suarez bit Chiellini on the shoulder during a Uruguay set piece. In the aftermath, both Chiellini and Suarez fell onto the turf, with the latter gripping his mouth as if he was the wounded party.

Chiellini tried to show his bite mark wounds to the referee, who hadn’t witnessed the attack, to no avail. Suarez was not penalized and remained on the field. Two minutes later, Diogo Godin scored for Uruguay, setting up their path to the second round of the World Cup. With 11 players on the field to 10 of Italy's men – who saw Claudio Marchiso ejected with a red card in the 59th minute – Uruguay held on through stoppage time to stay in the tournament, moving on with dark horse Costa Rica.

Following the match, Suarez’s bite became the most talked about moment of the game, forcing FIFA to investigate the on-field incident. Adding to the imperative of handing Suarez down a harsh punishment is his storied history of biting his opponents. Twice – once in 2010 and again in 2013 – he was caught and banned for a number of games.

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