Uruguay striker, Luis Suarez, has slammed FIFA after they were eliminated from the 2022 World Cup.
Giorgian De Arrascaeta scored twice as the South American beat Ghana 2-0 at the Al Janoub Stadium. But South Korea 2-1 comeback victory over Portugal left both teams tied on four points and the same goal difference, but Uruguay had scored two fewer goals – so were eliminated.
Uruguay’s players were left furious with the officiating in their match with Suarez’s teammate Edinson Cavani denied a penalty in a hugely contentious decision late on with referee Daniel Siebert surrounded by a swarm of angry Uruguay players as he made his way off the pitch at the end of the match.
Cavani summed up Uruguay’s anger as he punched the VAR pitchside monitor to the ground as he made his way off the pitch while Suarez, who had been substituted off earlier in the encounter, was left inconsolable in the dugouts in a flood of tears at the end of the match.
Ghana fans then began to mock Suarez by singing a pro-South Korea song immediately after the match – 12 years on from an iconic moment when a Suarez handball denied the Ghanaians a goal that would have booked their place in the 2010 World Cup semi-finals.
Sadness and disappointment
Suarez explained to TeleDoce after the game when asked to sum up his emotions: “I feel sadness and disappointment. My son is also leaving the stadium with the image of that sadness, so for a father it is difficult, but he has to face the situation that he has.”
The striker then went on to criticise the referee’s decision not to award Uruguay a late penalty. The incident came after Liverpool hotshot Darwin Nunez was taken down by Daniel Amartey inside the Ghana box. The referee was told by VAR to review his original decision on the pitch-side monitor – but Siebert refused to overturn his call. His firm doubling down left Uruguay enraged and, for them, it was about to get worse.
Suarez added: “I see a penalty for Cavani because he is cut off by the defender and he puts his body in front of him. Darwin’s is very clear too. They are not excuses, but incredible penalties are being awarded in this World Cup. And there is the committee of referees and FIFA, and they have to try to explain themselves better, at least.”
Suarez then explained that after the game he tried to meet his wife and children to give them a hug, but he was denied by FIFA. He continued: “I saw a France player with his children on the substitute bench. So why always (is it a problem) against Uruguay? It seems that we have to have another power at the media level to have access to have my children to allow them come down for a second to greet me, but hey, that’s FIFA.”
