Luis Suárez has claimed his bite of Giorgio Chiellini was accidental.

Suárez has been banned for nine matches and four months. 

“After the impact … I lost my balance, making my body unstable and falling on top of my opponent,” he said in his submission to the panel. “At that moment I hit my face against the player, leaving a small bruise on my cheek and a strong pain in my teeth.”

FIFA studied the incident from 34 camera angles.

The bite was “deliberate, intentional and without provocation”, the ruling read. “He bit the player with the intention of wounding him or at least of destabilizing him.”