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The Suarez/Ivanovic bite in all its slo-mo, circled glory.“He is making it very difficult for himself to stay at Liverpool…This club is a world-renowned football club… but this is going to show Liverpool in a very bad light, especially in this week of all weeks,” Souness said, referring to the recent death of the indefatigable Hillsborough campaigner Anne Williams, as well as the Boston marathon bombings (Liverpool's owners have strong links to the city).
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The first time Suarez bit a player on the pitch, in 2010 while he was playing for Dutch club Ajax.There’s no doubt that Suarez should be banned for a number of games, but everyone needs to stop piously pretending that Liverpool will even think about selling him. If they didn’t sell him after he was found guilty of racially insulting Patrice Evra, they’re not going to sell him now. And what kind of message would that send anyway? That Liverpool Football Club can tolerate racism but not biting? Discriminating against a man for the color of his skin is A-OK, but bite a man—it would seem—and you are a disgusting animal that needs to be put to sleep.This week, Branislav Ivanovic will get up and go to training as usual. He's not pressing charges and he probably won’t even have to get a tetanus shot. A bite is no worse than a terrible tackle; it does not end careers, and it is certainly no worse than using racist language to antagonize an opponent. Suarez is no saint—we know that. The soccer he plays is an all-out war, guided by the dominating Uruguayan philosophy of garra (literally "claw," but implying a kind of hardheaded, streetwise cunning); for Suarez everything and anything is permitted. His relentless competitive streak means he will do absolutely anything to gain an advantage; biting is just part of that. It’s not right, and it’s kind of distressing, but it’s also entertaining and quite funny. Plus, Suarez—who will not be sold—has already been fined and has requested that his fine go to the Hillsborough Family Support Group, so that should appease everyone who spotted the direct link between the bite and the Hillsborough disaster 23 years ago.Next to one of the articles I've read chastising Suarez today was an ad for a T-shirt bearing the Eric Cantona quote “When the seagulls follow the trawler, it's because they think sardines will be thrown into the sea.” Cantona said this in response to the press’s reaction to his jumping into the crowd and kung-fu kicking a fan. Today’s outrageous soccer crimes are tomorrow’s fondly remembered moments of madness.Follow Oscar on Twitter: @oscarrickettnow