Argentine legend Diego Maradona has come out in support of under-fire and disgraced Uruguayan forward Luis Suarez.
Maradona appeared at a television programme, De Zurda, in Rio de Janeiro, wearing a T-shirt containing a message in support of Suarez. The message read "Luis We are With You" . Furthermore, Maradona claimed the way FIFA treated him was as if he had commited a heinous crime.
Diego Maradona, himself no stranger to controversy , has come down heavily on FIFA. "This decision is a disgrace," the football legend said. "I can't understand this. Who did Suarez kill to get this kind of ban. Why don't [Fifa] handcuff him and send him to Guantanamo [Bay]?"
He also termed the decision to ban him "unbelievable". "A player works hard the whole year to be able to play at the World Cup, and Luis scored 29 goals and they kick him out of the World Cup like this."
To add fuel to the fire he did not let an opportunity to make fun of some FIFA's decisions slip past him. "Remember [Zinedine] Zidane and what he did in that [2006] World Cup final? FIFA then gave him the Golden Ball," said Maradona at the TV show.
Suarez was not to blame for the way he reacted and it was a part of the game, according to the former World Cup winning Argentine skipper. "They don't understand the feelings of fans."
Diego Lugano, the current Uruguayan captain, too defended the actions of his star forward. "They treat him like a criminal. Escorted by the police [out of the Uruguay camp]. He did nothing. How wouldn't I defend him at that press conference?" he said according to website goal.com.
Lugano while describing Suarez as a great guy insisted that the ban was very harsh and it would hit him at the best moment in his career, while the Uruguayan football federation also did not take too kindly to the decision made by FIFA on Thursday.
"It feels like Uruguay have been thrown out of the World Cup," the Uruguayan football federation president Wilmar Valdez said.
Suarez's youngest brother Diego, a footballer as well, was also deeply saddened by the ban.
Suarez, at present the most vilified and spoken about footballer for biting Italian defender Giorgio Chiellini's shoulder in Uruguay's win over Italy, has found a great deal of support amongst his countrymen .
A nine-match suspension and a four-month ban from any football related activity has been imposed on the lethal Uruguyan forward by FIFA after football's governing body found him guilty of biting Chiellini. Suarez was intsrumental in guiding his team to the round of sixteen after scoring two goals against England.
