Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho believes that FIFA are right to hand Uruguay's Luis Suarez a lengthy ban for biting Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini, even though he feels that the stadium ban on the striker is a little harsh.
The 27-year-old Liverpool striker was slapped with a nine-match international suspension as well as a four-month ban from all football related activities, after he was found guilty of biting Chiellini during Uruguay's clash against Italy in the two sides' final Group D fixture on 24 June.
Although Mourinho feels that Suarez, who insists that the bite incident was an accident, thoroughly deserved the match suspensions, he feels a stadium ban on the former Ajax striker is too harsh.
"I think the punishment is deserved because it is an accumulation of the same negative act on the football pitch. If his punishment comes as a sequence of three similar mistakes in three different situations, it is something that he deserves. It has to stop," said Mourinho, who is currently working as a global football ambassador for Yahoo.
"What I really don't like in football is the stadium ban. What's the problem for Suarez to be in the stadium, in the middle of the Uruguay supporters watching the game between his country and Colombia? It's too hard; it's something that I really don't understand."
Meanwhile Diego Lugano, who had spoken in favour of Suarez after the incident, claims that FIFA has breached "human rights" by not letting the Uruguayan even enter the stadium.
"It's a breach of human rights that a player cannot go into a stadium where there are 80,000 people or into a hotel with his team-mates, that he cannot work for four months/ He has committed a crime, but this (ban) is barbarity. Not even a criminal would receive this penalty," said Lugano.
Lugano also bitterly regretted the absence of Suarez during Uruguay's round of sixteen clash against Colombia. The Uruguayan's were very unimpressive as they succumbed to a 0-2 defeat against Colombia.
And the West Bromwich Albion defenders admitted that Suarez's absence was the main reason behind their defeat.
"He is irreplaceable. Against Colombia we weren't able to replace the skills he has. For years he has been our best player. Us losing him is much worse even than Brazil losing Neymar or Argentina losing (Lionel) Messi," added the defender.
