Uruguay striker Luis Suarez has apologised to Giorgio Chiellini for biting his shoulder in his country’s final World Cup group match against Italy.
Fifa handed the Liverpool striker a four month ban from all football-related events, a nine month suspension and a fine.
“For this I deeply regret what occurred,” Suarez, 27, said in a statement.
“I apologise to Giorgio Chiellini and the entire football family. I vow to the public that there will never again be another incident like this.”
Suarez has previously denied biting the ‘Azzurri’ defender, claiming he lost his balance in a tangle with Chiellini.
He sat out 17 matches altogether for biting PSV’s Otman Bakkal while at Ajax in 2010 and Chelsea’s Branislav Ivanovic while playing for Liverpool in April 2013.
His recent act sees him rake up a staggering 26 games ban for biting an opponent and also earns him the biggest suspension in World Cup history- a game more than that handed Italy’s Mauro Tassoti for elbowing Spain’s Luis Enrique in 1994.
“After several days of being home with my family I have had the opportunity to regain my calm and reflect about the the reality of what occurred during the Italy-Uruguay match on 24 June 2014.
“Independent from the fallout and the contradicting declarations that have surfaced during these past days, all of which have been without the intention of interfering with the good performance of my national team, the truth is that my colleague Giorgio Chiellini suffered the physical result of a bite in the collision he suffered with me,” Suarez added.
Chiellini, who himself had tagged the ban “excessive” responded to the statement via Twitter saying: “It’s all forgotten. I hope Fifa will reduce your suspension.”
.@luis16suarez It’s all forgotten. I hope FIFA will reduce your suspension.
— Giorgio Chiellini (@chiellini) June 30, 2014
In the meantime, the player voted PFA Players’ and FWA Player of the Year last season is set to miss the first nine games of the Premier League season, with his return date slated for October 26.
