Pepe Reina hits out at ‘absurd’ Suarez ban

LIVERPOOL goalkeeper Pepe Reina has said the ten-match ban given to his team-mate Luis Suarez for biting an opponent is “absurd” and “excessive”.

Suarez was punished on Wednesday by the Football Association after he bit the arm of Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic at the weekend.

“He knows he is in the wrong, and that it was a mistake, but the ten-game punishment seems absurd to me, excessive and unfair,” Spanish international Reina was quoted as telling radio station Cadena Cope in his homeland yesterday.

“I consider myself a friend of Luis. He is being treated differently, I don’t know if it is because he is Uruguayan or because he has been involved in similar episodes. It seems the people who make the decisions have it in for him.”

Liverpool have until this morning at 11am to appeal against the ban on Suarez.