Rio De Janeiro - Fifa punished Luis Suarez heavily for biting an opponent in a World Cup match because the Uruguayan showed no repentance for the incident and previous bans had not changed his behaviour, a Brazilian newspaper reported on Saturday.
“At no time did the player show any kind of remorse or admit to any violation of Fifa rules and therefore showed no awareness of having committed any infraction,” a Fifa document said, according to Estado de Sao Paulo, one of Brazil's leading newspapers.
Suarez was hit with a nine-game ban on playing competitive matches for Uruguay and a four-month suspension from any football-related activity, ending the involvement in the World Cup of one of the sport's best players.
Estado de Sao Paulo quoted the documents as saying the bite on Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini on Tuesday took place when the two players were not close to the ball, which was an aggravating factor, and was a “deliberate, intentional and unprovoked” act.
Photographs of the documents have appeared in the newspaper and on social media sites.
The documents, drawn up by Fifa's Disciplinary Committee, said a proposal for a six-game ban was considered but rejected as insufficient, it said.
“The minimum punishment was not sufficient to have the necessary dissuasive effect,” Estado quoted the documents as saying. “Previous bans did not have an effect.”
A Fifa spokeswoman said she could not comment on the case as discussions by the Disciplinary Committee were confidential.
Suarez has served two previous bans for biting while playing club football in Europe.
The documents included excerpts of Suarez's explanation of the event, in which he said his initial contact with Chiellini caused him to lose balance and fall on the Italian.
“Then, my face hit the player, leaving me with a bruise and a lot of pain in my teeth which caused the referee to stop the game,” Suarez was quoted as saying.
“That is what happened and at no point did anything happen that can be described as 'biting' or trying to bite,” he said.
The Disciplinary Committee meeting which ruled on the Suarez case included representatives of Pakistan, the Cook Islands, Singapore, Panama, Hong Kong, South Africa and Switzerland, the newspaper reported.
Uruguay have told Fifa they intend to appeal the ban which they say is excessive, a view shared even by Italy's Chiellini.
Uruguay face Colombia in the World Cup's first knockout round on Saturday. – Reuters