So far, two games is all Luis Suárez has got for biting midfielder Otman Bakkal in this Ajax's 0-0 draw with rival PSV. I don't know what's more surprising: that an athlete resorts to violence or two teams that were combining for six goals per match played to a scoreless draw. I'm used to the violence.
Luis Suarez Bites Otman Bakkal, Thereby Proving Hand Ball Was Act Of Malicious Cheater Person
When you look at the video, the incident seems relatively tame. You know, as far as unjustified bites go:
Is there such a thing as a justified bite?
Two games seems light given straight red cards are obliged with a three match ban. Of note: This suspension has been handed down by the club, not the Eredivisie. We’ll see if the league has its own say.
In the mean time, bitter bittermans looking for World Cup justice are doing their own snapping, using this as an opportunity to illustrate a pattern of behavior, acting on the age old maxim: An act of violence is comprable to a hand ball.
Time machine moment, let's get some context. Most remember this summer's World Cup, where Suárez's Uruguay made a semifinal run thanks to this to this play:
Suárez saved that goal, got Uruguay to kicks (thanks to Asamoah Gyan missing the ensuing attempt from the spot). There, La Celeste eliminated Ghana. Suárez was suspended for the semifinal against Germany, having been shown red for his save, but that wasn't enough for some apoplectic media, writers who would have to give back their moral police badges if they didn't due their part to protect their vision of The Game's anachronistic soul.
And that part continues to be played out by the likes Rob Bagchi at the Guardian:
Luis Suárez, the Uruguay and Ajax forward, who was condemned for appalling sportsmanship after handling the ball on the line to stop Dominic Adiyah scoring a late winner for Ghana in the World Cup quarter-final and then joyously celebrating when the subsequent penalty was missed before heading down the tunnel, has added a new misdemeanour to his charge sheet.
As if the hand ball in South Africa constituted an initial entry on a criminal rap-sheet. Can we get over Maradona already?
In fairness to Bagchi, that quote was taken from the lead of an article which quickly deviates from Suárez. going on to document the history of biting in sports. Unfortunately, that transition makes the throw-away reference to Suárez’s criminality more egregious - as if it’s the kind of mundane opinion that can be tossed-in without amplification.
Perhaps I’m wrong, but I think Bagchi’s post could have gotten by on the biting alone, and opinion I encourage you to find ironic. After all, if I’m condemning Bagchi’s brow-beating of Suárez, what should I have to say about my domineering of Bagchi?
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