Luis Suarez's grandmother: FIFA have thrown him out like a dog

A woman takes a photo next to an advertisement featuring Uruguay's Luis Suarez baring his teeth on Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Luis Suarez’s grandmother has leapt to his defence after he received a record four-month ban from all forms of football as well as a nine-match international ban, in what has been labelled a “barbaric” decision by Fifa.

The Uruguay striker saw his World Cup dreams ended on Thursday when Fifa announced their decision at their morning briefing following his bite on Italy’s Giorgio Chiellini during Tuesday’s 1-0 defeat against Uruguay.

But Lila Piriz Da Rosa has claimed that her grandson has been treated “like a dog” after he was thrown out of the World Cup for a third biting incident of his professional career.

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“Everyone knows what they've done to Luis. They wanted him out of the World Cup. Perfect, they did it. They chucked him out of there like a dog,” Piriz told Reuters while she sobbed in an interview in Suarez’s birth-town of Salto in north-west Uruguay.

She went on to claim that the World Cup organisers had been out from the start of the tournament to get Suarez, who is one of her 22 grandchildren.

“This was on purpose,” added Piriz, who believes the claims that there is a conspiracy against Suarez. The Liverpool striker has now been banned for three separate biting incidents involving Bakkal Otmal, Branislav Ivanovic and Chiellini as well as the racism row involving Patrice Evra for which he was given an eight-match ban.

He will miss Uruguay’s World Cup second round match against Colombia on Saturday, but the larger impact could be felt by Liverpool who would be without Suarez for up to 13 matches due to his worldwide four-month ban.

But Piriz believes that for Fifa to sanction the player for the bite, they must have had their eyes on him for the duration of the match.

“They had their eyes on him to see what he does. It's barbaric what they've done to him,” she said. “I'm his granny and I love my boy loads. Please don't ask me any more.”

Suarez’s ban also means that he is not allowed to remain with the Uruguay squad after they departed their training base for Rio de Janeiro where they will meet fellow South Americans Colombia tomorrow night.

Around 500 fans gathered at Montevideo airport last night expecting the arrival of Suarez, although it has been reported that he did not fly back to Uruguay immediately.

 Authorities were reported to have claimed that he will instead be taken back to his home in the coastal resort of Solymar privately, away from the prying eyes of both his fans and the world’s media.

Jack De Menezes