Suarez bite ban makes total sense

The offence has been committed, the English Football Association (FA) has made its decision and I think they've got this one spot on. Plenty in and around football raised eyebrows when the FA confirmed that Liverpool striker Luis Suarez would serve a 10-match ban for biting Chelsea's Branislav Ivanovic. However, I was not surprised. The association claimed that the standard three-match ban was "insufficient" in the circumstances and Suarez would be suspended for a further seven games. However, if you analyse the ban closely it isn't as harsh as some Liverpool fans would tell you. The Reds have four games left this season and aren't really fighting on any meaningful front. So if you take those four games away, then Suarez has been banned for six games, three of which fulfil the basic FA criteria and three others, one of which is a League Cup game. How any Liverpool fan can say 10 games is harsh after that explanation is beyond me. Suarez is a wonderful player and one of the biggest names in the English Premier League. However, alongside his goals, the 26-year-old's past indiscretions have shown an ugly side he has often struggled to cope with. From goalline saves to dressing room bust-ups, from biting players to finger-waging and handballs - Suarez has had a controversial career. His latest offence was nothing new, as in November 2010, whilst leading the line for Ajax, he bit PSV Eindhoven’s Otman Bakkal on the shoulder. The incident landed him a seven-match suspension, and the title of the "Cannibal of Ajax." In three years at Liverpool, Suarez has managed to get himself suspended for 27 games without receiving a single red card. That is remarkable for any footballer, let along a star striker at one of England's biggest clubs. Soon after biting incident, a football fan asked me on Twitter if I would have Suarez at Newcastle United. My reply, its a no-brainer and not even a debate-worthy question. On the same day former Newcastle midfielder Joey Barton tweeted: "Every single football fan out there would have Suarez in their team. Anyone who says otherwise is talking complete nonsense." He's right. Morality left football a long time ago. It is a results business and Suarez, more often than not, guarantees results. Sadly, he also demands a hefty wage packet, the sort of which Newcastle stopped giving out a long time ago. On Thursday, Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers gave his reaction to the 10-match ban, and his words shocked me. In a staunch defence of his star player, Rodgers said "Luis has not let me down one bit," adding that the striker had been "thrown to the garbage." Rodgers also condemned the FA for the severity of the ban and claimed that the association "punished the man" rather than the actual offence. Rodgers' bitterness is a worry and does not reflect well on Liverpool. What sort of a message is he trying to give by saying Suarez has not let him down, when the footage of the bite is there for all to see, and the players past antics tell their own story. Regardless of the gaffer's protests, for me it is hard to argue against the FA's judgement. The views expressed by the author do not necessarily represent or reflect the editorial policy of Arabstoday.