The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) may have upheld the ban on Uruguayan football Luis Suarez, for biting Italian defender Giorgio Chiellini during a World Cup game, but the footballer and authorities must ponder over the severity of the punishment.
Basically, just the sanctions imposed by Fifa have been confirmed. The four-month ban will apply to official matches only and no longer to football-related activities such as training, or promotional pursuits and administrative matters.
All supply lines related to the commercial well being of this individual should have been cut off. Suarez is a highly paid professional and with the status that he enjoys comes a set of caveats that must be stringently imposed every time he goes astray — history shows that he is no stranger to controversy, or exhibiting cannibalistic tendencies on the football pitch.
Punishments to such individuals, who have the potential to be role models, must not be symbolic. They must be an example in order to deter others who, being carried away by fame and money, could emulate his actions.
The least Suarez can do at this moment is introspect and take counselling to improve his temperament.
