A boy of 11 was suspended from school yesterday for biting another child after telling him: ‘I’m going to do a Luis Suarez.’
The pupil sank his teeth into his classmate after copying the shamed Liverpool footballer who bit another player on Sunday.
Suarez, 26, who earns £100,000 a week, is facing a long ban after biting Chelsea’s Branislav Ivanovic.
But despite the global revulsion caused by the incident, Liverpool FC has refused to sack their £23million player – who has now been offered ‘anger management’ by the players’ union.
Last night mother Sharon Ellis said the attack on her son Ryan, 11, was a direct result of the example Suarez had set.
She said: ‘Suarez’s actions on the football field have led to my son being bitten. The boys were at the school’s breakfast club and there had been some altercation because someone had stood on someone’s foot. The other boy turned round to my son and said, “I’m going to do a Luis Suarez, I’m going to bite you”.
‘And then he went ahead and bit his upper right arm. He then went around bragging to the other children that he had “done a Suarez”.’
Miss Ellis, 45, from Connah’s Quay, North Wales, said Ryan – a Liverpool fan – was left with a bruised upper arm. ‘He was a bit shaken. The bite went through two layers of clothing and left a mark,’ she said.
‘These aren’t nursery school children, you don’t expect 11-year-olds to go around biting each other. They looked at what Luis Suarez did, he did not even get sent off.’
The moment: Suarez, 26, who earns £100,000 a week, is facing a lengthy ban after biting Branislav Ivanovic
Miss Ellis, who works as a Royal Mail administrator, said the other boy had now been suspended from school.
‘I haven’t heard this child’s name before as being a naughty boy in school, I think it’s just a copycat situation. Suarez should not have done what he did, he’s an adult at the end of the day.’
The Football Association has charged Suarez with violent conduct and the Professional Footballers’ Association have offered him anger management counselling.
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Yesterday Liverpool FC refused to sack the Uruguayan, instead choosing to fine him an undisclosed amount, possibly two weeks’ wages.
Last night the Prime Minister stepped into the row. His spokesman urged the FA to take into account Suarez’s position as a role model when deciding on the length of the ban.
He said: ‘It’s rightly a matter for the football authorities to consider. As part of their considerations, I think it would be very understandable if they took into account the fact that high-profile players are often role models.’
Under fire: Suarez was seen in Liverpool yesterday (left) after scoring in Sunday's Premier League game (right)
Asked whether Mr Cameron felt that Suarez had set a ‘bad example’ to young children, the spokesman replied: ‘I think the implication is fairly clear.’
The footballer, who is married to his childhood sweetheart Sofia Balbi and has a two-year-old daughter, will not face police action after Ivanovic said he did not want to press charges.
'I haven’t heard this child’s name before as being a naughty boy in school, I think it’s just a copycat situation. Suarez should not have done what he did, he’s an adult at the end of the day'
Sharon Ellis
But his sponsor Adidas took the unusual step of speaking out on the incident.
A spokesman for the sports company said: ‘Adidas does not condone Luis Suarez’s behaviour and we will be reminding him of the standards we expect from our players.’
An FA spokesman said: ‘The incident was not seen by the match officials and has therefore been retrospectively reviewed.
‘It is alleged that the conduct of Suarez constitutes violent conduct and it is the FA’s contention that the standard punishment of three matches that would otherwise apply is clearly insufficient in these circumstances.’
Suarez has been in trouble for biting players before. He was nicknamed ‘The Cannibal of Ajax’ in 2010 for drawing blood from the shoulder of PSV Eindhoven’s Otman Bakkal while playing in Holland.
Bite: Mother Sharon Ellis, 45, from North Wales, said Ryan - a Liverpool fan - was left with a bruised upper arm
Last season he was suspended for eight matches for racially abusing Manchester United’s Patrice Evra.
'He’s a fantastic player, top scorer and everything we’d want in a striker, so there’s no change there. This is more about getting him back on the right track'
Liverpool managing director Ian Ayre
Former Liverpool captain Graeme Souness said the latest incident made it ‘very difficult’ for Suarez to stay at the club.
Immediately after the match, the club’s manager Brendan Rodgers insisted that any player was replaceable, ‘no matter how good they think they are’.
But yesterday Liverpool, who were criticised for defending Suarez over the racial abuse incident, again stood by their star player.
The club’s managing director Ian Ayre said: ‘Luis is a very important player to the club. As we keep saying, he signed a new four-year contract last summer and we’d all love to see him here throughout that contract.
No comment: The headteacher at the bitten boy's school, Golftyn Primary, declined to speak about the incident
‘He’s a fantastic player, top scorer and everything we’d want in a striker, so there’s no change there. This is more about getting him back on the right track.’
Suarez is among six players nominated by his fellow footballers for the PFA Player of the Year award.
'We have to work hard on anger management now. We have trained counsellors in this field and we will be offering their services to Liverpool and the player to try to improve matters'
PFA chief executive Gordon Taylor
Last night, Nicola Cooper, headteacher at the bitten boy’s school, Golftyn Primary, declined to speak about the incident. No one was available to comment at Flintshire County Council.
Professional Footballers’ Association chief executive Gordon Taylor said Suarez would be offered anger management counselling.
He said: ‘There is no doubting his football ability, that’s why it is so disappointing and embarrassing when he lets himself down.
‘We have to work hard on anger management now. We have trained counsellors in this field and we will be offering their services to Liverpool and the player to try to improve matters.’