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- iHaveNet.com: Soccer
Fitzgerald Cecilio
London, England
Liverpool's Luis Suarez failed to grasp the "gravity and seriousness" of his bite on Chelsea's Branislav Ivanovic during Sunday's match at Anfield, according to a Football Association panel.
The panel was referring to Suarez's denial of the standard punishment that would otherwise apply for violent conduct, that led it to impose a 10-match ban.
But Suarez's past infractions played no part in coming up with the punishment imposed on him , confirmed the Football Association.
Suarez has been handed a seven-match ban by Dutch football authorities in 2010 for biting PSV Eindhoven's Otman Bakal while playing for Ajax. Last season he was hit with an eight-match ban for racially abusing Manchester United's Patrice Evra.
But the panel did concur with the prime minister's official spokesman, that a player of Suarez's level has a duty to uphold the highest standards of conduct and to set an example to minors.
Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers had accused the FA and prime minister David Cameron of prejudicing the hearing.
Suarez chose not to appeal his ban, which starts immediately, ruling Suarez out from Liverpool's four remaining Premier League matches up until the start of next season.
"Whilst 10 games is clearly greater than those bans given in past cases where player have actually been seriously injured, I acknowledge that my actions were not acceptable on the football pitch so I do not want to give the wrong impression to people by making an appeal," Suarez reasoned.
"The charges against Luis were his to consider and we have to respect his decision to not appeal the 10-game ban," said Liverpool managing director Ian Ayre.
The ban sparked fierce criticism from the Liverpool hierarchy because of its severity.
While Liverpool condemned the Suarez's actions and fined the 26-year-old player, it expressed "shock and disappointment" at the punishment meted out to their 23-goal top scorer.
For a second time this week, United Kingdom Prime Minister David Cameron weighed in on the debate over Suarez's bite on Friday.
"As a dad and as a human being, do I think we should have tough penalties when football players behave like this? Yes," Cameron told BBC Radio 5 Live.