Luis Suarez has been fined by Liverpool Football Club after he bit Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic in a Premier League game.
Twenty-six-year-old Suarez, who has a colorful history of on-the-pitch misbehavior, sunk his teeth into Ivanovic’s arm during Liverpool’s 2-2 draw against Chelsea on Sunday. The player confirmed on Monday he has been fined, tweeting :
“For my unacceptable behaviour yesterday the club has fined me today, I have asked the club to donate the money to the Hillsborough Family Support Group for the inconvenience I have created to the Liverpool fans and to Ivanovic.”
Suarez’s bite was roundly condemned by senior staff at Liverpool, with manager Brendan Rodgers describing the incident as “unacceptable” and managing director Ian Ayre also publicly denouncing Suarez’s actions.
However, the club has insisted the Uruguyan striker, a leading contender for the PFA Player of the Year award, still has a future at Liverpool.
While a hefty fine was expected and a long ban may yet be imposed on Suarez by the Football Association, Ayre said the striker’s future at Liverpool was not in doubt:
“Not at all. It affects his future in the sense that we have to work with him on his discipline. Luis is a very important player to the club. As we keep saying, he signed a new four-year contract last summer and we’d all love to see him here throughout that contract. He’s a fantastic player, top scorer and everything we’d want in a striker, so there’s no change there.”
“This is more about getting him back on the right track and it’s largely down to Brendan [Rodgers] now to work with him on that side of his character.”
It’s not surprising that Liverpool are keen to keep Suarez. Despite his disciplinary scrapes, the striker has been in sparkling form this season and is comfortably Liverpool’s best player. He currently leads the Premier League scoring charts with 23 goals.
1/2 For my unacceptable behaviour yesterday the club has fined me today, I have asked the club to donate the money to…
— Luis Suarez (@luis16suarez) April 22, 2013
2/2 …to the Hillsborough Family Support Group for the inconvenience I have created to the Liverpool fans and to Ivanovic.
— Luis Suarez (@luis16suarez) April 22, 2013
