Advertisement

Luis Suarez says he's getting help for biting problem, claims he does it in self-defense

(Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)
(Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)

Luis Suarez's four-month ban for biting Giorgio Chiellini during the World Cup has concluded just in time for him to make his El Clasico debut with Barcelona on Saturday. Naturally, Suarez's third biting offense in four years is once again a popular topic of conversation, but the Uruguayan has had enough of it and prematurely ended a recent interview with the Guardian by vowing to never speak of it again. He also claims that he bites out of "impulse" and in self-defense. As if Chiellini's shoulder was pointing a gun at him during the Italy-Uruguay match.

"Everyone has different ways of defending themselves," Suarez tells the Guardian's Simon Hattestone in the video interview. "In this case my weakness was that one [biting] but there are other players who react differently by kicing, breaking a nose or punching. Some of these things are worse than others and I understand that biting is very poorly viewed."

That last part makes it clear that he still doesn't believe that biting an opponent is all that terrible and is just something society has arbitrarily deemed worse than other, more common acts of aggression that aren't as likely to transmit infectious diseases.

Though Suarez goes on to say, "I believe I am on the right path now, dealing with the people who can help me, the right kind of people" it seems he still doesn't quite get it and that he's just going through the motions of  in order to get back to playing football. Which could leave him open to biting yet again.

Suarez walks away from the interview saying, "They have asked me about the bite 38,000 times, never again. This is the last one of these [interviews]."

Before ending it, Suarez also discussed the 2011 incident where he racially abused Patrice Evra. He still freely admits that he called Evra "negro" and seems to understand that this term has a far more negative connotation in England and Europe than it does in Uruguay. But he also still claims there was no evidence against him and it was only Evra's word against his.

Clearly four months away from the game did nothing to improve Suarez's sense of personal responsibility or self-awareness.

- - - - - - -

Brooks Peck

is the editor of Dirty Tackle on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him or follow on Twitter!