Tabarez quits FIFA role after Suarez ban

Uruguay coach Oscar Tabarez has resigned from FIFA’s strategy committee following the decision to ban Luis Suarez for four months.

The game’s world governing body handed Suarez a lengthy suspension from all football-related activity on Thursday, with his punishment for biting Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini also including a nine-match international ban.

Tabarez must do without the prolific Liverpool striker when his side take on South American rivals Colombia in a last-16 clash at the Maracana on Saturday.

And, speaking on the eve of the game, the 67-year-old revealed that he would relinquish his role with FIFA as a result of the “excessive” punishment dished out to Suarez.

He said: “In the way they sanctioned him, they showed values and standards very different from what I want to have.”

World players’ union FIFPro claimed on Friday stated that Suarez’s ban “infringes his right to work” and Tabarez echoed those sentiments in his press conference at the Maracana.

He added: “To set a good example, you don’t need to be so excessive.

“There is a danger in this, and it’s too often forgotten that in the centre of this is a person, who has rights.”

Tabarez also pointed the finger at the British media for their response to the 27-year-old biting an opponent for a third time.

“The journalists treated it like it was the only relevant theme. I don’t know where they were from, but they all spoke English,” said Tabarez, who made reference to scapegoats.

He added that he was not condoning Suarez’s actions, but again questioned the length of the ban.

“I’m not justifying anything, and I don’t think that he shouldn’t be punished,” Tabarez said.

“With this, who wins? Who loses? Who benefits? Who comes out of persecuted? Who comes out of it best?”

He concluded: “To finish, to Luis Suarez, to Luis Suarez the person, who we know…you’re not alone.”