Luis Suarez arrived at the world sport's highest court, Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), last Friday in order to appeal his case regarding the his FIFA Ban.
IT can be remembered that Suarez bit a player from the opposing team during their games in the FIFA world Cup, Uruguay vs. Italy. Suarez appealed to the FIFA committee on his four month suspension but it was denied. But Barcelona is not deterred with the situation. Instead they pursued Suarez to sign up a five year contract worth $130 million.
He went to the court requesting to lower his four month ban for biting an opponent. He has been supported by the World Players Union. International player's union group, FIFPro, urging the court to ease the ban set for Suarez and to include rehabilation plus other conditions. They said "The educative nature of the sanction mentioned by FIFA in the (disciplinary) ruling can be much better achieved by making it partially conditional, including the obligation for Luis Suarez to receive treatment."
The Uruguay striker was tight lipped as he entered the court and emerged five hours after with no further comment on the issue. According to CAS, Suarez came in and gave "a statement to the Panel of CAS arbitrators: Mr Bernhard Welten, Switzerland (President), Professor Luigi Fumagalli, Italy, and Dr Marco Balmelli, Switzerland."
Suarez legal team is confident that they will obtain a reduction of the ban of two months. If this is the case, the new Barcelona player will be able to play on August 25.
CAS sais in a statement "At the end of the hearing, the Panel informed the parties that it will issue its decision as soon as possible, probably before the end of next week. The full arbitral award, with the grounds, will follow at a later date and be published by the CAS."
Suarez has been greatly supported by FIFPro and has called the sanction given by FIFA as disproportionate saying "That Luis Suarez has been trialed and vilified in public, ever since the incident, is a sanction in itself. On the other hand, it has been remarkable to see the response from his fellow professionals and the victim himself, Giorgio Chiellini."
The statement continues "Many agree the sanctions are excessive. This is an important signal for the CAS panel to consider. The sanctions are a disproportionate response to the offence. Especially the four-month ban from all football-related activity, which is unfair for Suarez as it infringes his right to work at club level. In the international arena, where the offence was committed, a nine-match ban for Uruguay is also too strong as it effectively equates to a two-year sanction."
