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Luis Suarez was given an unprecedented nine-match international suspension by Fifa plus a four-month ban from all football activity after biting Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini during Uruguay's 1-0 victory over Italy in the World Cup group stage.
Suarez will now not be seen on a football pitch again until after 26 October beacuse of the four-month ban, although Liverpool can appeal the decision. The club have yet to confirm whether they will do so.
But where does Suarez's latest suspension rank among other memorable bans. Click through the gallery to find out...
Show all 11 1 /11Luis Suarez and other lengthy bans Luis Suarez and other lengthy bans Eric Cantona – nine months Perhaps the most famous kung-fu kick of all time, and it didn’t occur in a karate ring. Instead, Selhurst Park was the venue. When Eric Cantona took offence to obscenities being shouted from an individual in the crowd – Mark Simmons – he launched an attack on him that a ninja would do well to better. He was rightly given a worldwide ban from football that lasted nine months, which must’ve felt like football maternity leave.
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Luis Suarez and other lengthy bans Mark Bosnich – nine months The former Man United and Chelsea goalkeeper didn’t exactly receive kind words from Sir Alex Ferguson in the legendary manager’s recently released autobiography – and none of that had anything to do with his nine month ban for testing positive for cocaine.
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Luis Suarez and other lengthy bans Rio Ferdinand – eight months Another Manchester United legend has spent a long spell on the sidelines, but this was slightly different circumstances. After failing to appear for a drugs test in September 2003, he was made an example of by the FA and missed eight months through suspension, including Euro 2004.
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Luis Suarez and other lengthy bans Tran Dinh Dong – 28 game ban This Vietnam international has been given an unprecedented 28-game ban following a horror tackle that left the player on the receiving end with a broken leg. The Vietnam Football Federation have also forced him to pay Nguyen Anh Hung’s medical bills - but on a positive note, his fine only amounted to £567 pounds. The VFF are quoted as saying the ban is “a warning to all players across the nation”. They believe foul play has become “popular” in the V-League.
Luis Suarez and other lengthy bans Luis Suarez – Nine games, four months An unprecedented nine-match suspension plus a four-month ban from all football activity was handed to the striker by Fifa for biting Giorgio Chiellini during Uruguay's 1-0 victory over Italy in the group stage. He will not be able to play again until 26 October.
Luis Suarez and other lengthy bans Joey Barton – 12 games Barton’s last appearance in England’s top division is possibly the most famous match ever played in the top flight. With QPR still not safe from relegation but leading at the Etihad 2-1 when City needed a result to win the title, the former Newcastle player was sent for an early bath after he elbowed Carlos Tevez. But as he left the field, he wanted to “take one of them with him”, as he once said, so he kneed Sergio Aguero and clashed with Vincent Kompany. Mario Balotelli tried wade in, it’s probably best for both parties that there was someone that to restrain them.
Luis Suarez and other lengthy bans Paolo Di Canio – 11 games Di Canio re-announced himself to the Premier League this term at north-east side Sunderland but it ultimately ended in tears after he was shown the door following a player revolt on Wearside. It’s not the first time he’s caused controversy, with his shove on Premier League Paul Alcock at Hillsborough during his Sheffield Wednesday’s one of the most famous meltdowns ever seen in England’s top division resulting in a hefty 11-game suspension.
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Luis Suarez and other lengthy bans Dave Prutton – 10 games Judging by Prutton’s actions at St. Mary’s for Southampton in 2005, you could speculate he had a poster of Di Canio on his bedroom wall growing up. After being sent off for a tackle on Arsenal’s Robert Pires, Prutton went mad; he shoved referee Alan Wiley before heading for a confrontation with the linesman. He was rightly banned for 10 matches, and fined £6,000.
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Luis Suarez and other lengthy bans Luis Suarez – eight games, 10 games Suarez makes the list again for these two incidents. Firstly, during a Premier League encounter with the Reds’ bitter rivals Man United, he was found guilty of racially abusing Patrice Evra and subsequently banned for eight games. He wasn’t quite satisfied with that, so decided to sink his teeth into Branislav Ivanovic in a league match with Chelsea during the culmination of last season. Despite receiving a 10-game ban that overlapped into this season, he’s still top of both the goal-scoring and assist-making charts.
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Luis Suarez and other lengthy bans Alan Pardew - seven matches Pardew already been banned for two games for pushing a linesman, and was recently reminded of his responsibilities following a volley of abuse directed at Manuel Pellegrini. He has now been banned for seven matches for his butt on Hull's David Meyler, the first three being stadium bans.
Luis Suarez and other lengthy bans Paul Ince – five game stadium ban In the only incident that can be significantly compared to that of Pardew’s misconduct, Ince was given a five-game ban from all stadiums after he ‘violently shoved’ a fourth official following his former club Blackpool’s game against Championship newcomers Bournemouth. He also threatened to “knock him out” according to the FA.
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The match Suarez is expected to return for is Newcastle United at St James' Park in the league on 1 November.
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