Luis Suarez does NOT have a 'no biting' clause in his Barcelona contract

Rumours that Barcelona had added the clause as a safeguard

Tom Sheen
Friday 08 August 2014 09:07 BST
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Luis Suarez has officially joined Barcelona for £75m
Luis Suarez has officially joined Barcelona for £75m (Barcelona FC)

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Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu has confirmed that there is not a 'no biting' clause in the contract of £75m star Luis Suarez.

Suarez, who is preparing to appeal his four month ban from "all football activity" on 8 August, was rumoured to have had the clause inserted into his contract, allowing Barcelona to cancel his deal should he bite an opponent for a fourth time.

But speaking to CNN, Bartomeu denied its existence.

"No, there is no clause," he said. "If the clause did exist we wouldn't say it, but it doesn't exist."

It would not be the first bizarre contract clause in football.

Neil Ruddock would be fined if he went over a certain weight at West Ham, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was often introduced in the 71st minute as Arsenal had to pay Southampton £10,000 if he played 20 minutes or more in a game and Stefan Schwarz was banned from going into space when signed by Sunderland in 1999.

Bartomeu added: "We didn't rethink the decision (to sign him) and we told Luis after the bite. He knows he did wrong.

"He apologised. That's very important for us.

That means he knows that he did not do things properly - and of course, coming to our city, coming to our club, there's going to be a way of managing Luis Suarez, because at Liverpool he was a perfect player.

"Liverpool fans can tell it, supporters can tell it."

Suarez's appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) is set for Friday with an announcement expected in the following days.

He is currently not allowed to play or train under the conditions of his Fifa ban, but should the CAS overrule that decision, he could be back in training before the season starts.

The international players' union FIFPro has claimed that the terms of the ban infringes Suarez's right to work.

A statement issued in June said: "The fact that Suarez is prohibited from working for a long period must be addressed as it directly infringes his right to work. Luis Suarez deserves all the support he needs including legal support in the appeal case in order to achieve a reduction of the sanctions."

If his ban is upheld he could make his Barcelona debut against bitter rivals Real Madrid on the weekend of 25 October.

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