Luis Suarez bite: Radio call-in guest defends striker's ‘natural reaction’ - and admits he has bitten people on four occasions
Caller – identified only as Richard – told a BBC radio station it was ‘a natural reaction to go for the ear or nose’
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Your support makes all the difference.A call-in guest on a BBC radio station has defended Luis Suarez’s apparent bite on Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini at the World Cup, saying that sometimes using your teeth is “the only way to get out of that situation”.
In a line of questioning that can’t often have been heard on a regional talk show, the BBC Three Counties host asked caller “Richard”: “So you bite people as well?”
Richard, who said he wanted to “shed some light on the biting thing” that has overshadowed Uruguay’s crucial 1 – 0 win last night, replied that it could sometimes be a “natural reaction to go for the ear or nose” in a fight.
The bizarre call, which has quickly begun to go viral, saw Richard admit to having bitten adult men on “probably four separate occasions”.
He describes almost with a sense of glee how: “If you latch onto the side of someone’s ear while fighting them, you almost have total control of that person at that point.
“It sounds dreadful, doesn’t it?” he said. “But if a person was attacking you and you felt that was the only way to get out of that situation, then you may find yourself doing the same.”
Listen to the bizarre phone-in
Suarez faces being thrown out of the World Cup after Fifa officially charged him with biting Chiellini as Uruguay made their way into the knockout stages.
In a defence not entirely removed from Richard’s, after the match Suarez said the defender had “thrust his shoulder into me”, and that “these are things that happen on the pitch”.
The pair clashed in the 79th minute. Despite the fact that Chiellini exposed his shoulder to reveal clear bite marks, the Mexican referee Marco Rodriguez did not spot the incident, which Fifa launched an investigation into hours after the match.
Uruguay now have until 5pm (9pm GMT) today to present evidence in Suarez’s defence.
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