14 Things Luis Suarez Can't Do During His Ban (And 8 He Surprisingly Can)

What does "activities relating to football even mean?"

Jul 11, 2014 July 11th, 2014

Hassan Ammar/AP/Press Association ImagesLiverpool have seemingly finally waved goodbye to Uruguayan enfant terrible Luis Suarez, with the striker sealing a 88m move to Spanish giants Barcelona to reshape the forward line of a team who under-performed and under-achieved last season, and in doing so, the Anfield club have swerved the wider implications of the 4 month ban he had hanging around his neck. Having decided to take a lump out of Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini's shoulder in the World Cup match that ultimately saw his side progress to the knock-out stages in their opponents' place, Suarez was slapped with a world-wide ban that took in not only international games, as some Liverpool fans immediately suggested should have been the case, but also a host of other activities "related to football" that initially everyone though would include moving clubs. Obviously we now have 88 million reasons that suggest that might not have actually been the case, as was sort of confirmed by FIFA last week, though not entirely as clearly as might have been expected. Clearly FIFA's definition of a football transfer, involving a football player, from one football club to another football club as not an activity relating to football is different from everybody else in the entire world's, but at least for Liverpool it means they can go about the messy business of replacing the headline generating striker with someone less likely to sit out months of the season for trying to ingest someone else on the pitch. In the further interest of clarification, the PFA have come forward with their own definition of the activities that Suarez cannot take part in at his new club, though naturally FIFA may yet completely defy these seemingly logical readings and come up with an entirely different list more in line with their idea that transfers don't count - possibly including allowing him to play football, as long as he closes his eyes. And mouth. So, according to the PFA, here are the many things that Suarez cannot do for the next four months, now that his appeal has been turned down by FIFA...

14. Train With The Barcelona Team

TwitterFour months is a long time to be away from any job, but it's hard to really quantify the impact that Suarez not enjoying a full pre-season with his new club will have on his form when he eventually does return to full fitness. It might seem like a cliche, but managers mention pre-season campaigns for a reason, especially given the effect bonding on tours can have on team spirit, which remains a crucial factor in teams even as packed with talent as Barcelona. The fact that Suarez cannot even train with his team-mates effectively means he will arrive back in November as a brand new player, and regardless of how long he studies their form and approach to play, it's going to take some time for him to adjust, especially to the differences in pace in Spain.