Luis Suarez Defends his Actions by Branding Biting as 'Harmless'

Luis Suarez has defended his actions by stating that biting is harmless and does not affect anyone unlike the hazardous challenges that we see on the pitch everyday.

The Uruguayan was reprimanded thrice for biting, the latest in the world cup where he was handed a four month ban by FIFA for biting Italian defender Giorgio Chiellini.

His other transgressions include biting Branislav Ivanovic during his time at Liverpool and PSV's Ottman Bakkal when he was at Ajax.

The South American striker made his way to Barcelona in the summer from Liverpool, having carried them all the way into the Champions League last season, scoring 31 goals in the process and winning the PFA Player of the Year award.

However, his career has been blighted by a series of controversies, not least for his racial slur on Patrice Evra, for which he was handed an eight-game ban.

Even after that, the Barca striker does not agree with the punishments meted out to him for biting. Though he insists that he was in the wrong and needed help, at the same time he persists that his biting never seriously injured anyone.

"They treated me like a criminal. [But] it was my fault," Suarez said in his autobiography, as quoted by Goal.

"It was the third time something like that happened to me and I needed help, although I was an easy target.

"Biting scares a lot of people, but it's relatively harmless, or at least it was in the incidents I was involved in.

"None of my bites were like Mike Tyson's on Evander Holyfield, but nobody cares about that," he added.

The striker also talked about his conversation with Steven Gerrard last season where the Liverpool legend convinced him to not move to Arsenal, stating that bigger clubs will come in for him next summer if he can raise his game.

Steven Gerrard's words came true, as Barcelona scooped him up for a tangible fee and coalescing what is likely to be the most deadly forward line in world football in the form of Suarez, Lionel Messi and Neymar.