MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Mujica strongly supports Suárez and blasts FIFA: “they went too far”

“The fact is that we are small and our television rights are not worth much”, pointed out Mujica.

Uruguay's president Jose Mujica blasted FIFA's Thursday decision to fine and suspend the country's main scorer Luis Suarez from any football activity for four months arguing the association that rules world football measures things with different rods, and since Uruguay “is a small country, it's cheap for them”.

“We left out Italy and England, imagine all the money they've lost!!” said president Mujica blasting FIFA's ex-officio decision which means Uruguay's team can't count with Suárez for at least nine matches. This automatically leaves the scorer out of the Brazil World Cup and next year's Americas' Cup in Chile and some matches with Liverpool in the UK Premier League.

“There's a different rod measure and this is what is most outrageous, and what most hurts”, underlined Mujica during an interview with the television program “De Zurda” which has Diego Maradona as the main commentator.

“I totally agree, president. Suarez is not responsible for the reaction, it is something that happens and belongs to the match”, said Maradona,

”They (FIFA) over did it, they went too far, they want to punish us because we are Uruguayans and we're small and thus is cheap to punish us“, added Mujica.

The Uruguayan president remarks went on the air as he joined a crowd in Montevideo's main airport of Carrasco where Suarez was scheduled to land following his suspension from the World Cup and a 100.000 Swiss Francs fine.

However Mujica left the airport after it was announced that the chartered plane bringing Suarez from Natal had been delayed.

Nevertheless Mujica had time to comment that ”there's a lot of people out there in the cold, and they are furious“. And added, ”I'm waiting for Luis to come back to the motherland to embrace him“.

”The fact is that we are small and our television rights are not worth much“, pointed out Mujica.

”And they are also after this lad because he does not have a university degree, he doesn't have a proper education. But he carries deep inside all that rebellion and pains from those who made their way up from down below. The great genial players are born in the guts of the people, in the street fields where they play ball. They (FIFA) don't have an idea how happy they make us; they don't have a clue what's going on and don`t have mercy on him“.

The alleged bite of the Uruguayan scorer in the shoulder of an Italian player, has become the most controversial issue of this World Cup.

Although he was not sanctioned by the referee during the match, FIFA ex-officio decided to sanction Suarez with a nine matches suspension from the national team and four months ban from any stadium.

Suarez and his family were expected to fly Thursday night to Montevideo where a huge crowd was waiting for him.

”Luis should be flying, apparently he decided to return from Natal with his family to Uruguay. We are going to support him in every aspect, the human being and also the player”, said Wilmar Valdez president of the Uruguayan Football Association.

The FIFA Disciplinary Committee decided on Thursday that in the case related to Luis Suárez of Uruguay following an incident that occurred during the FIFA World Cup match between Italy and Uruguay played on 24 June 2014:

• The player Luis Suárez is regarded as having breached art. 48 par. 1 lit. d of the FIFA Disciplinary Code (FDC) (assault), and art. 57 of the FDC (an act of unsporting behaviour towards another player).

• The player Luis Suárez is to be suspended for nine (9) official matches. The first match of this suspension is to be served in the upcoming FIFA World Cup fixture between Colombia and Uruguay on 28 June 2014. The remaining match suspensions shall be served in Uruguay’s next FIFA World Cup match(es), as long as the team qualifies, and/or in the representative team’s subsequent official matches in accordance with art. 38 par. 2a) of the FDC.

• The player Luis Suárez is banned from taking part in any kind of football-related activity (administrative, sports or any other) for a period of four (4) months in accordance with art. 22 of the FDC.

• A stadium ban is pronounced against the player Luis Suárez in accordance with art. 21 of the FDC as follows: the player Luis Suárez is prohibited from entering the confines of any stadium during the period of the ban (point 3). The player Luis Suárez is prohibited from entering the confines of any stadium in which the representative team of Uruguay is playing while he has to serve the nine-match suspension (point 2).

• The player Luis Suárez is ordered to pay a fine in the amount of CHF 100,000.

The decision was notified to the player and the Uruguayan FA today.

“Such behavior cannot be tolerated on any football pitch, and in particular not at a FIFA World Cup when the eyes of millions of people are on the stars on the field. The Disciplinary Committee took into account all the factors of the case and the degree of Mr Suárez’s guilt in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Code. The decision comes into force as soon it is communicated,” said Claudio Sulser, chairman of the FIFA Disciplinary Committee.

The Disciplinary Committee's president is a Swiss, Claudio Sulser, the same country as FIFA chief Joseph Blatter. Among the 19 members of the committee are countries with limited football tradition much less in world cups, such as Congo, Singapore, Tonga, Cook Islands, Pakistan, Hong Kong and the Cayman Islands.

The 19 members are: Claudio Sulser, president from Switzerland; Vice-president Kia Tong Lim, Singapore; other members: Krister MALMSTEN, Sweden; Aleksander CEFERIN, Slovenia; Jim SHAW, North Ireland; Rafael ESQUIVEL, Venezuela; Juan Ángel NAPOUT, Paraguay; Francisco ACOSTA, Ecuador; Ariel ALVARADO, Panama; Peter CAMPBELL, Cayman Islands; Mike EDWARDS, USA; Constant OMARI, Congo; Raymond HACK, South Africa; Hamid HADDADJ, Algiers; Nayyar HAIDER, Pakistan; HONG Martin, Hong Kong; Iman GEORGE; Cook Islands; Lord VEEHALA, Tonga and Jo SETRIGHT, Australia.