Uruguay plays Colombia in the round of 16 Saturday, but Los Charrúas will be without star striker Luis Suarez.
Suarez received a nine-match international ban and four month ban from all competitions from FIFA after appearing to bite an Italian opponent in Uruguay’s 1-0 win. Suarez has previously been banned twice for biting opponents, but he denies biting Italy’s Giorgio Chiellini Tuesday.
In a letter to FIFA’s disciplinary panel dated the day after the incident, Suarez wrote that he did not deliberately bite Chiellini, he simply fell.
“In no way it happened how you have described, as a bite or intent to bite. After the impact… I lost my balance, making my body unstable and falling on top of my opponent. At that moment I hit my face against the player leaving a small bruise on my cheek and a strong pain in my teeth.”
Chiellini, meanwhile, said that the ban Suarez received was excessive. Chiellini blasted FIFA in the immediate aftermath of the game for “protecting” a star player, but Italian defender wrote in a blog post that he’s concerned for Suarez.
“I sincerely hope he will be allowed to stay close to his teammates during the games, because such a ban is really alienating for a player.”
