Suarez bite ban appeal fails

Luis Suarez has failed in his appeal against his ban for biting Giorgio Chiellini at the World Cup.

The Uruguay striker was slapped with a four-month ban from football for biting the Italy defender and will also miss his nation's next nine official matches.

While Uruguayans have lamented the severity of the sanction, Fifa have rejected an appeal from Suarez and the Uruguayan football association.

In a statement on its official website, the world governing body of football said: "The Fifa appeal committee has decided to reject the appeals lodged by both the Uruguayan player Luis Suarez and the Uruguayan FA, and to confirm the decision rendered by the FIFA Disciplinary Committee on 25 June 2014 in its entirety.

"The terms of the decision taken by the FIFA Appeal Committee were communicated to the player and the Uruguayan FA today."

However, the statement also revealed that the decision was "not yet final and binding", allowing Suarez and the Uruguay FA to lodge a final appeal through the Court of Arbitration of Sport.

Source: Fifa