Liverpool's Luis Suarez Banned For 10 Games For Bite

banned for 10 games for biting Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic. The incident happened during Liverpool's 2-2 draw with Chelsea at Anfield last Sunday, The 26-year old later apologised for the incident via the club's official website and his Twitter account, and was hit by a club fine on Monday. Liverpool have said they are "shocked and disappointed" by the length of the ban, something of which the player also contested. The Uruguayan had earlier accepted the FA's charge of violent conduct but disputed their claim that a three-match ban "was clearly insufficient". Liverpool now have until Friday, at 12:00 BST to appeal against the decision. The FA said:

"A three-person independent regulatory commission today upheld the FA's claim that a suspension of three matches was clearly insufficient and the player will serve a further seven first-team matches in addition to the standard three. The suspension begins with immediate effect. "The Liverpool forward had accepted a charge of violent conduct but had denied the FA's claim that the standard three-match sanction was insufficient for the offence. "The incident was not seen by the match officials and has therefore been retrospectively reviewed. "Suarez has until midday on Friday 26 April to appeal the additional suspension, above the standard three matches."

The ban means Suarez will now miss his side's final four Premier League fixtures - including the crunch Merseyside derby with Everton - along with the first six games of the 2013/14 season. Reds managing director Ian Ayre said:

"Both the club and player are shocked and disappointed at the severity of today's independent regulatory commission decision. "We await the written reasons tomorrow before making any further comment."

This is not the first time Suarez has been hit by a lengthy ban. He was banned for seven games for also biting PSV Eindhoven midfielder Otman Bakkal's shoulder in 2010, and received an eight-match ban by the FA for racially abusing Manchester United defender Patrice Evra in 2011. The ban also means Suarez will now definitely not win this season's Golden Boot award. He has scored 23 league goals this season, one fewer than Robin van Persie, who is now the favourite to win the award for a second successive season.