Most football fans and non-fans agree: after biting another player, Liverpool footballer Luis Suárez should be banned for more than eight games, if not for life
The Football Asssociation charged Suárez Monday with violent conduct for the bite, which occured during a Saturday match with Chelsea and caused a media storm. The incident even caught the attention of Prime Minister David Cameron, who pointed to Suárez's "role model" status and called for the FA to be firm.
The FA has yet to decide on the striker's punishment, but said that the usual three-match ban for violent conduct is "clearly insufficient for these circumstances". Suárez, for his part, accepted the charge Tuesday but denied that the usual three-match ban wasn't enough.
New YouGov research shows that most Britons agree with Cameron and the FA—Suárez's punishment should be more severe than the usual one. Almost four in ten (39%) football fans say Suárez should be banned for more than eight games, and another 13% said he should be banned for life. Britons that aren't interested in football took an even harder line, with three in ten (30%) calling for a life ban and a quarter (26%) calling for a ban of more than eight games.
Altogether, fully 77% of football fans and 72% of non-fans think that Suárez's punishment should be a ban of five games or more.
An Independent Regulatory Commission will hear the case and decide on the penalty today, Wednesday 24 April.
UPDATE:
The Football Association has issued footballer Luis Suárez a 10-game ban for violent conduct.
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