Upset Uruguayan government to meet over Suarez ban

MONTEVIDEO (Reuters) - Uruguay president Jose Mujica will hold a meeting later on Thursday to discuss "options" after a record nine-match ban imposed by FIFA on striker Luis Suarez, local media reported. Leftist Mujica will meet with Tourism and Sports Minister Liliam Kechichian over the ban they deem "excessive," Subrayado TV channel reported. It was not immediately possible to contact the government. Mujica, a 79-year-old former guerrilla whose austere ways and outspoken political views have made him a leftist idol abroad, has defended the Liverpool striker like most furious Uruguayans who deem the ban exaggerated, hypocritical and even biased. [ID:nL6N0P74RG] Mujica spoke with Uruguay coach Oscar Tabarez on Thursday to express his "solidarity" with Suarez, Subrayado reported. Suarez will miss Uruguay's last-16 match against Colombia in Rio de Janeiro on Saturday and will play no further part in the tournament in Brazil if they progress. (Reporting by Malena Castaldi and Irene Schreiber; Writing by Alexandra Ulmer, editing by Ed Osmond)