I Will Never Attend Any FIFA Gala Again – Luis Suarez

Owing to how he was treated for biting Giorgio Chiellini during the 2014 World Cup, FC Barcelona striker, Luis Suarez, has vowed never to attend another FIFA gala.

Suarez was banned for nine international matches and from all football activity for four months said:

“I suffered. I’m a human being that suffers and has feelings. My daughter was aware of what her dad
was going through,” Suarez said.

“We were going to get on the plane on the way to Rio to play against Colombia and my family told her not to get on the plane, that her dad had to leave.

“Imagine that. It was one of the toughest days of my life. I am a father. I have feelings. Then when I came to Barcelona and I had to train in a gym because I couldn’t go to the training ground. It hurt a lot. [My kids] kept asking me why I wasn’t playing. To be honest, it really hurt.

“Above all because I am not like that, I am softy and my family know that. My kids know that their dad is a human being and he makes mistakes and they know anyone can make mistakes.

“I hurt Sofia because I lied to her. She asked me [about Chiellini bite] and I denied it. I had trouble believing it, let alone saying it. I couldn’t understand it. I hurt her because she knew I wasn’t like that. [The press] even asked her how I was at home.

“They could have been thinking anything. And that hurts. Everyone has their way of playing, their character. If I wasn’t as I am, I wouldn’t have arrived where I here [Barcelona].”

“You can punish someone, suspend them … but to stop them going to a training centre, for example, to see my nephew train, that seems so unfair to me. I didn’t understand it. Not at all,” he said.

“Give me 10, 15, 20 games [ban], but to treat me how they treated me hurt. And when I had the trials with FIFA’s lawyers, giving their reasons, it was even worse. I am aware that I made a mistake but I am also aware I am a human being.

“They have to understand that. They have to put themselves in someone’s skin and realise how it hurts. I didn’t go to the FIFA gala and I will never go again. I have no problem saying I will never go to a FIFA gala.”