Luis Suarez admits FA charge of violent conduct

The FA has confirmed the Liverpool striker has pleaded guilty and an independent regulatory commission will now meet via video conference to  decide on his punishment.

Suarez could face a lengthy ban but has denied a claim from the FA that a standard three-match suspension is “clearly insufficient”. A statement from the FA read: “Luis Suarez has today accepted a charge of violent conduct, following an incident with Chelsea’s Branislav Ivanovic in Sunday’s fixture at Anfield.

“However, Suarez has denied the FA’s claim that the standard punishment of three matches is clearly insufficient for this offence. The incident was not seen by the match officials and has therefore been retrospectively reviewed.”

It was thought Suarez could face a ban of at least six matches or even as many as ten but the player will have the right to appeal if he feels it is too severe. The three-person regulatory commission will include a former player and will operate under the FA’s fast-track system.

Suarez was banned for seven matches in the Netherlands in 2010 when he bit into Otman Bakkal and, although that incident will not form any part of the FA’s case as it was in a different country, the commission will have the discretion to take his personal disciplinary history into consideration. The same approach will also be used when the commission decide whether his eight-match ban for racially abusing Manchester United’s Patrice Evra should have any impact on the sanction for this case.

There is no standard minimum or maximum punishment for biting in football’s disciplinary code, unlike rugby union which has a 12-week  recommended suspension for first offences up to a four-year ban for the most serious biting offences.