It has been reported that Giorgio Chiellini was the eighth player bitten by Luis Suarez over the course of the stirker's career, with claims surfacing that he was involved in five further incidents in Uruguay.
The Daily Star say that "insiders" are suggesting that previous incidents have been "hushed up", and that Suarez's first club Nacional have mysteriously removed records of the incidents.
A source told the paper:
FIFA have not only taken into consideration this bite and two previous incidents when they handed Suarez a four-month ban from football.
They are also aware of other alleged biting incidents from his early professional playing days. There are people who have come forward to FIFA with details. There are allegations of five attacks but whistleblowers have told FIFA they were covered up because football officials in Uruguay did not want it known that their star asset was involved.
They suspect foul play but only time will tell what happened exactly.
Taking into consideration that the proceedings are ongoing (i.e. the deadline to submit reasons for the appeal is ongoing) please understand we cannot comment or disclose any details on the case for the time being.
Meanwhile, it has also been reported that Barcelona are willing to offer the Uruguayan £160,000 per week as part of a deal that would see him earn a total of £40 million - but only if he agrees to a special "bite clause", according to the Mirror.
To appease their support, the Blaugrana are keen to ensure that Suarez would be contractually obliged to behave himself, both on and off the field.
Liverpool are demanding £80 million for Suarez, but the Catalans are unlikely to part with more than £50 million, but Alexis Sanchez could to Merseyside as a £30 million makeweight.
Barça are likely to support Suarez in any attempt to see his ban removed or reduced, and it is believed that he make take his case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, Switzerland, with leading sports law specialist Juan de Dios Crespo as his lawyer.
The whole ordeal has proved a bit much for Uruguay's popular president José Mujica, known as the "world's poorest president". Here he is calling FIFA "una manga de viejos hijos de puta" - roughly "a bunch of old fuckers". Wonderful.
http://youtu.be/QqzhT1DUCqQ
