After a bad-tempered game between Barcelona and Espanyol on Wednesday in the Spanish Cup at the Nou Camp, Luis Suarez and several Espanyol players clashed in the tunnel, according to the referee's report.
It seems Suarez may have been provoked. Catalan newspaper Sport quoted the report of referee Juan Martinez Munuera, who stated: "In the 75th minute the No 12, Papakouly, was expelled (sent off) for directing the following words at an opponent: 'I shit in your whore mother.'" The Guardian reports that those words were directed at Suarez.
The report then stated: "At the end of the game, once in the tunnel, Barca's No9, Suarez while the Espanyol players were coming up the stairs, waited for them and shouted at them on various occasions.
"He said: 'I'm waiting for you, come here! You're a waste of space.' It provoked a confrontation between players of both clubs and the security guards had to get involved, as did coaches of both teams."
In light of the latest Suarez-related controversy, Newsweek looks at the Uruguayan's colorful history of indiscretions.
Handball against Ghana, 2010 World Cup
An unforgettable piece of gamesmanship. The World Cup quarter-final between Uruguay and Ghana stood at 1-1 late in extra time when Suarez quite deliberately blocked a goal-bound header with his hands. He was sent off, but remained in the tunnel and was captured by television cameras celebrating gleefully as Asamoah Gyan, the Ghana striker, missed the penalty that resulted from the handball.
Biting incident No 1, November 2010
Suarez was given a seven-game ban by the Dutch Football Federation for sinking his teeth into the shoulder of Bakkal, the PSV Eindhoven midfielder . The referee missed the incident, but Ajax, Suarez's club at the time, itself banned the player for two games and fined him.
Racial abuse towards Patrice Evra, October 2011
Suarez was banned for eight games and fined £40,000 by the English Football Association after he was found guilty of racially abusing Evra, the French defender , during a game between Liverpool and Manchester United on October 15, 2011. Evra complained to Canal +, the French television station, after the game that Suarez had used racist language towards him "at least ten times ". Suarez admitted three years later in his autobiography that he had called Evra "negro," but said the word had been misunderstood.
Biting incident No 2, April 2013
Suarez apologized for his "inexcusable behaviour" after biting Ivanovic, the Chelsea defender, on the arm during a 2-2 draw at Anfield on April 21, 2013. Suarez escaped punishment at the time and scored a 90th-minute equalizer. "I've spoken to Ivanovic on the phone and I could apologize directly to him," Suarez Tweeted in the aftermath. He was banned for ten games.
Biting incident No 3, June 2014
In the 2014 World Cup group game between Uruguay and Italy on June 24, Suarez chomped down on the shoulder of Giorgio Chiellini, the Italy defender. He was banned completely from football for four months, delaying his debut for Barcelona, the club he moved to from Liverpool in the summer of 2014. In October of that year, he claimed he was on the "right path" after seeing a therapist to cure his biting problem .
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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