Three bites and you're OUT: Why Luis Suarez CANNOT be allowed to continue in this World Cup

All bite on the night: Chiellini and Suarez

THE WORLD CUP faces perhaps the greatest test in its history this week when they address the problem of Luis Suarez and his prominent teeth.

Uruguay's enormously talented striker - scorer of both goals in their epic 2-1 win over England - stands accused of a THIRD incident of biting an opponent during his nation's 1-0 win over Italy last night.

When I say "accused" the pictures are damning – and hugely damaging to the game. As I said last night after the incident, Italy weren't just beaten, they were well bitten. Afterwards the "victim" Giorgio Chiellini was rightly aggrieved, exhibiting clear tooth-marks in his left shoulder.

The whole tooth: Suarez reacts after biting incident

The 29-year-old Juventus defender said: “Suarez is a sneak and he gets away with it because FIFA want their stars to play in the World Cup. I’d love to see if

they have the courage to use video evidence against him.

“The referee saw the bite mark, too, but he did nothing about it.”

Though Uruguay are through to the knock-out stages after a result which saw Italian boss Cesare Prandelli resign, FIFA surely CANNOT allow Suarez to play any further part in the tournament.

The 27-year-old, top scorer with 31 goals in the Premier League last season and joint winner of the European golden boot with Cristiano Ronado, bravely fought back from knee surgery to play in Brazil after his deliberate hand-ball put Ghana out of the tournament in the 2010 quarter-finals.

Muzzled: a possible solution for Suarez

This was supposed to be an opportunity to wipe the slate clean, the emerge as a rival to global superstars like Argentina’s Lionel Messi and Brazilian four-goal hero Neymar.

Instead, Suarez poses the toughest disciplinary conundrum in the history of the game – any game. While controversial boxer Mike Tyson chewed Evander Holyfield's ear in 1997 and South African rugby Springbok Johan Le Roux bit New Zealand's Sean Fitzpatrick in 1994, Suarez is the first sportsman to stand accused of multiple episodes of, well, let’s call it “attempted cannibalism”.

The first came on 20 November 2010,  when Suárez – playing for Ajax Amsterdam - bit PSV's Otman Bakkal on the shoulder during a 0–0 draw.

Ajax suspended him for two games and fined him an undisclosed amount which the club said they would donate to a "good cause". The Dutch FA later increased the ban to seven games and Suarez was sold to Liverpool without playing another game.

The second bite occurred on 21 April 2013, in a 2–2 draw with Chelsea in a Premier League game at Anfield. Again, he clearly bit Branislav Ivanović on the shoulder. Despite Chelsea protests, Suarez stayed on the pitch and scored the injury-time equaliser.

He was banned for 10 matches with the FA – having already slapped an 8-match ban for racism on the Uruguayan in 2011 – insisting they wanted to send: "a strong message that such deplorable behaviours do not have a place in football".  

Evidence: teeth marks

Then, unbelievably, the THIRD incident last night saw Chiellini bitten in very similar circumstances. The bite marks were quite clear as the Italian ran to the ref to protest, but again, no action was taken and Uruguay went on to win 1-0 and qualify for the last 16.

The football-speaking world remains in shock this morning. The Suarez bite quite simply over-shadowed England’s worst-ever World Cup showing – their 0-0 draw with Costa Rica left them with one point to take home on their flight of shame – and a controversial injury-time penalty which saw Greece win 2-1 and oust the Ivory Coast.

Chiellini added: “The disparity in judgment has been evident. Claudio Marchisio’s sending-off (Italy were already down to 10 men) was ridiculous but more so the fact that Suarez wasn’t sent off.

“There’s the will to protect champions but the referee should have shown him a red card.”

FIFA have announced they will be looking in to the incident and have given Uruguay today to provide mitigation against Suarez’s impending punishment.

In theory, the World Cup disciplinary panel have the power to suspend Suarez for up to two years.

Worryingly, Uruguay are in denial. Their captain Diego Lugano said: "You couldn't have seen it because nothing happened. The worst of everything is the attitude of Chiellini. As a man, he disappointed me totally."

And team-mate Diego Forlan insisted: “I didn’t see anything,” while many fans in the stadium actually missed the incident, it happened so quickly.

But the pictures can leave no question. Uruguay will complain and claim persecution of their best player, one of the finest strikers in Europe over the past 12 months.

Judgement: How twitter views Suarez

To listen to them would be WRONG. Kids will be watching the images today and wondering: “Is it okay to bite an opposing player?” while admiring a man found guilty of racism and cheating.

Media pundit and former Wales international Robbie Savage said: "It is a disgrace. Suarez should never play international football again."

Former USA goalkeeper Brad Friedel agreed: "Still can't believe what I've seen again from Suarez...needs an ENORMOUS ban from football. THIRD time now!"

Suarez must be taught a lasting lesson this time. No football in the spotlight for a year at least. Anything less than ending the World Cup for one of its most talented strikers would be seen as cowardly. Let’s see what FIFA do.

SOCCERBALLZ! my innovative football show on www.ballz.co.za with Mark Fish airs every Thursday from 9am-11am. See Ballz' channel for our growing library of fascinating football interviews with the big names. Ballz will also provide daily World Cup updates from next week.

You can also follow me on www.twitter.com/nealcol for all the latest sports news and read my “Neal and Pray” column every Tuesday in www.thenewage.co.za.

OFFICIAL: For Uruguay, Italy and England, it's Group D for Death. Argentina have it easiest...South Africa would have been the WORST side there

Have mercy: Rio's statue of Christ looms over World Cup

Less than a week before the World Cup kicks off on Thursday night, we have a NEW GROUP OF DEATH.

We always knew it was going to be tough for Ghana at this World Cup. Drawn in Group G with Germany, Portugal and the USA, we suspected the Black Stars would struggle to finish in the top two after narrowly failing to reach the semi-finals in South Africa 2010.

But today we can reveal Group G is NOT QUITE as nasty as Group D (Uruguay, England, Italy and Costa Rica) as we count down to the 2014 World Cup tournament which starts with hosts Brazil v Croatia on Thursday.

There is only ONE scientific way to rate a World Cup qualification group. It goes like this: add up the combined FIFA rankings of the four sides involved. The highest score equals the EASIEST group, the lowest score suggests the MOST DIFFICULT pool (otherwise known as the GROUP OF DEATH).

With FIFA’s last set of rankings before the big kick-off released yesterday, now is the time to check just WHICH TEAMS have the easiest task when it comes to reaching the last 16.

On that basis, with Costa Rica up SIX places to 28^th and England moving up one while Portugal slipped a place to 4th in the latest rankings, Group D can now be classified as the toughest group with 54 points while Group G is the second hardest pool with a total of 56 points.

Argentina’s Group F – shared with Bosnia, Iran and Nigeria – is officially the easiest pool on 113 with Group H (Belgium, Algeria, Russia, South Korea) next easiest with a total world ranking of 109.

It’s also worth noting Group D contains the most top-ten teams (Three: Uruguay, Italy and England), while Group H (Belgium, Algeria, Russia, Korea Republic) offers no nation in that elite group.

The world’s top 15 teams are ALL involved, Ukraine (16^th) are the highest ranked nation failing to qualify. Denmark (23^rd) are the next highest-ranked failures followed by Slovenia (25^th) and, surprisingly, Scotland (27^th).

The lowest ranked team in the tournament is Australia at 62 with South Korea at 56. If South Africa, now ranked 65 after their draws against the Aussies and New Zealand last month, had qualified, they would have been officially the WORST team at the tournament.

GROUP BY GROUP

GROUP A

Brazil 3

Croatia 18

Mexico 20

Cameroon 56

TOTAL: 97

GROUP B

Spain 1

Netherlands 15

Chile 14

Australia 62

TOTAL: 92

GROUP C

Colombia 8

Greece 12

Cote D’Ivoire 23

Japan 46

TOTAL: 89

GROUP D

Uruguay 7

Costa Rica 28

England 10

Italy 9

TOTAL: 54

GROUP E

Switzerland 6

Ecuador 26

France 16

Honduras 33

TOTAL: 81

GROUP F

Argentina 5

Bosnia 21

Iran 43

Nigeria 44

TOTAL: 113

GROUP G

Germany 2

Portugal 4

Ghana 37

USA 13

TOTAL: 56

GROUP H

Belgium 11

Algeria 22

Russia 19

South Korea 57

TOTAL: 109 

Team Bridge on top at Stamford Bridge, Ramsey agony at Stoke, now listen to Radio 5

THE weekend is barely half-done and already we've had so much dramatic action - from Wayne Bridge refusing to shake John Terry's hand before Manchester City's shock 4-2 win at Chelsea (pictured) to Aaron Ramsey's horrific injury as Arsenal won 3-1 at Stoke.

From Canada's Ice Hockey gold medallists getting into trouble for drinking on the ice after beating the USA to England falling 20-16 to Ireland at Twickenham in the Six Nations.

A weekend of drama, all watched on a big screen in a home theatre near Wrexham in Wales. I've turned down two Sky News appearances to attend Linda Holgate's 50th birthday in the middle of nowhere - a magnificent mansion called Wynnstay Hall which once housed Lindisfarne College before it closed in 1994.

And now Radio 5 want me on at 11pm to talk about Bridge and Terry. So much for the birthday party!

Think of me tonight, out in the cold on the mobile, being abused by Chelsea fans. This is an incredible place, beautiful scenery, we drove through Llangollen on the way to go-karting. Had no idea what this area of Wales is like - though all the locals wanted to talk about Friday night's Six Nations defeat by Wales at the hands of France, who appear the dominant force this year.

Until Ramsey's awful injury, the day had been dominated by Chelsea's first home defeat of the Premier League season. With Manchester United playing Aston Villa in the Carling Cup tomorrow, it was just the right result for Sir Alex Ferguson.
Frank Lampard gave Chelsea the lead as they dominated for the early exchanges but Carlos Tevez equalised as City - apparently disrupted by the hullaballoo over Bridge and Terry, began to settle.

Bridge was, disgracefully, booed with every touch at the Bridge. The former Chelsea left-back announced he wouldn't play for England on Thursday - because Terry had an affair with Vanessa Perroncel, the mother of his child.

Terry, who had the England captaincy stripped from him in the aftermath of the scandal, then suffered the humiliation of seeing Team Bridge triumph with that lovable rogue Craig Bellamy giving City the lead and scoring the a clinical fourth. Between his two goals, Tevez added a second from the spot before Lampard did the same.

As Roberto Mancini celebrated an unexpected success over his fellow-Italian Carlo Ancelotti, the Blues were forced to finish with nine men after Juliano Belletti and Michael Ballack were sent off. John Terry was booked and appeared lucky to stay on the pitch after a scuffle with Tevez, who clearly captains Team Bridge. Good lad.

City had failed to score in their previous seven visits to Stamford Bridge, while Chelsea had only conceded eight at home in the Premier League all season. This was some result. Ancelotti's first defeat at the Bridge, and the Blues first home reverse in 38 games.

Arsenal closed on the leaders with their injury-time win at Stoke, who were on the verge of an 11-match unbeaten run, which would have been their best in the top flight since 1974. Stoke scored from a typical Rory Delap long throw, Nicklas Bendtner equalised but the match was marred by an awful injury to Aaron Ramsey which saw Ryan Shawcross sent off.

The players on both sides looked stunned after the Welshman was carried off... it's one of those incidents so bad Sky refused to show a replay. Cesc Fabregas looked like he was going to be sick. Awful. Just wasn't the same after that, though Fabregas recovered to tuck away a last-minute penalty and Tomas Vermaelen added the late, late third.

Where the World Cup powers have their base: cricket takes a second place

I know, I know. I'm supposed to be here to write about cricket. Four fascinating Tests between South Africa, the world's second best side since India went to No1 this week, and England, currently fifth in the world.

But the problem is, the World Cup here in South Africa next year keeps impinging on my focus. And the reason? Within about a 10-mile radius of the venue for England's first cricket Test tomorrow, you will find all sorts of great footballing nations taking residence before Africa's first World Cup starts in six months.

On Sunday, driving to find a nearby cheese shop, my father and I chanced upton the Velmore Estate, which will house the Germans next June. Unbelievable place. I've already written about it already.

Then, after interviewing the England cricketer Stuart Broad yesterday, I came across the Leriba Lodge in the middle of Centurion as we drove home from the University of Pretoria's High Performance Centre, which will house Argentina.

A quick check and yes, the Leriba Lodge, stuck right in the middle of suburban Centurion, will house the Italians. They will train at nearby Swartkop High School, who already host the New Zealand rugby team whenever they visit. The school have a purpose-built pitch, with stands, to accommodate major international teams.

Thing is, the World Cup venues in Pretoria and Johannesburg - Loftus Versfeld and Ellis Park - are only 35 miles apart. And Centurion lies just to the Pretoria side of the equation. This is the perfect place for World Cup teams to be based, at altitude, where games at sea-level become matter-of-fact.

And then, today after the press conference with Andrew Strauss, my dad and I stopped off at Irene Lodge, home to the USA during the World Cup. And then we drove on to Southdowns College, a huge school nearby, where they will train.

Needless to say, it's magnificent. Like England's base at the Royal Bafokeng Sports Palace in Rustenburg. All posh rooms, huge mirrors, state-of-the-art decor and fabulous facilities. But Fabio Capello's men are 60 miles away from Centurion, a safe, tourist-friendly town just outside Pretoria.

Clearly, England will keep their fans and WAGs at arm's length in Bafokeng, and put the hanger's-on, the wives and girlfriends, in the mini-Las Vegas that is Sun City, 13 miles away.

But here in Centurion, Germany, the USA and Italy will provide a far friendlier venue for their media, fans and partners.

Germany's base at the Velmore Estate has already been talked about on this site. Magnificent, an oasis in the middle of nowhere. Italy's base at Leriba Lodge is far more suburban, based about two miles away from the cricket ground. Though all the nearby houses are fenced in and protected by armed guards, Leriba will give the Italians a perfect home for their six weeks in South Africa.

Though major reconstruction is currently underway, their base offers three restaurants, a spa and complete security. Nobody can move in the complex without being monitored.

And the USA base at Irene Lodge is, in my view, even better. Positioned in the old suburb of Irene where they exiled the local English populace during the Boer War, it is a real delight.

A huge lake dominates the lay-out and like we did today, you can eat on a wooden terrace out over the water. Paradise. A home to many important society weddings among the local populace.

Service in all these venues is exquisite. South Africa's catering crew, your barmen and waitresses, appreciate having employment like few in Britain can ever understand. The smiles are bright and real, a miniscule tip is accepted with open arms.

But the hidden timebomb? The cost for ordinary fans. While the teams are all safely booked in around this area, halfway between Pretoria and Johannesburg, where the World Cup final will be played on July 11 in Soccer City, the hotels and guest houses are planning a major money-making coup.

I could get a hotel in Centurion tonight for R450, which is just over £20 a night. But come the World Cup, as I showed several of the locals on my lap top, that price leaps into the stratosphere.

The only big hotel in Centurion with vacancies on June 11, the first night of the World Cup, demands R7,500 for a single night's accommodation. That's around £500 a night. Ridiculous. And the local bed and breakfasts, ungraded by the government, are demanding three times their normal rate, rising from a reasonable £4o a night this week, to £300 a night by mid-June.

How the hell do fans arriving from Europe cope with inflation like that? It's a tough one. Rustenburg, as the minister of tourism Marthinus van Schalkwyk revealed to me last week, has a shortage of 14,200 beds during the World Cup.

Polokwane, Nelspruit and Bloemfontein show similar shortcomings. The big tourist centres, Pretoria, Johannesburg, Port Elizabeth, Durban and iconic Cape Town, have no such worries.

So with all the big nations, Germany, Italy, Spain and England, up here in Centurion, not to mention Holland, idolised by the locals, based in Sandton down the road, where exactly do you find a value-for-money habitat for the greatest footballing show on earth next June?

It's easy. Get a tent. And a sleeping bag. Camp. I have found a secure, fenced-in camping site two miles from Centurion, with easy access to the Germans, Italians and USA (the Americans have currently purchased more tickets than anyone for next year's World Cup with England second in the rankings if you discount South Africa). Okay, the World Cup will take place in winter here and temperatures can dip alarmingly in June and July. But it won't rain. I promise. It never does in winter here.

Camp in Centurion and you're right in the middle of the high altitude World Cup venues. And it's not bad for England and Spain (Hunter's Rest, which is rather nice) in Rustenburg, if you don't mind the hour's drive.

While the various national teams have secured themselves comfortable, luxurious pre-tournament camps for the 2010 World Cup, the fans will be scrabbling about until the last minute. Just keep an eye on this blog. There are safe, secure alternatives. I will hunt them down. And cover the Test series against South Africa. Believe me!

And do we really have to focus on Manchester United's comfortable 3-0 win over Wolves - Sir Alex Ferguson's 900th game in charge - or Aston Villa's 2-0 win at Sunderland. Birmingham beat Blackburn 2-1 and Bolton won 3-1 against troubled West Ham, who are resisting a takeover from Birmingham's old owners.

Tomorrow we've got Chelsea v Portsmouth, Burnley v Arsenal, Liverpool v Wigan and Spurs v Manchester City in the battle for fourth place. Great. But isn't it about time we started thinking about the World Cup next year?