Will Apple dump serial biter Luis Suarez from Beats headphones endorsement deal?

“Luis Suarez’s lawyer flew to Rio de Janeiro on Wednesday to present his defense after the Uruguay striker appeared to bite a player during his team’s 1-0 victory over Italy, leaving him facing a lengthy ban if found guilty by soccer’s governing body,” Nick Mulvenney reports for Reuters. “Suarez, who has been banned from soccer twice previously for biting, has until 5pm local time (2000 GMT) on Wednesday to present his case to FIFA.”

“The incident came 10 minutes from time in Uruguay’s Group D game against Italy, when television footage appeared to show Suarez sink his teeth into the shoulder of Italian defender Giorgio Chiellini, who has publicly accused him of biting,” Mulvenney reports. “Chiellini pulled down his shirt, and Reuters photographs showed what appeared to be bite marks on his shoulder. The referee did not spot the incident during the match, but FIFA’s rules allow the use of video or ‘any other evidence’ to punish players retrospectively… Uruguay could potentially play four more games in the tournament, and it would be a surprise if Suarez were to be given a ban of a shorter duration if found guilty.”

“Whatever the outcome of FIFA’s investigation, the biting accusations could have an impact on Suarez’s commercial value as one of the world’s top strikers,” Mulvenney reports. “Poker brand 888 said on Wednesday it was ‘seriously reviewing’ its sponsorship agreement with him after Suarez became one of the online gambling company’s brand ambassadors last month. Suarez has an endorsement deal with German sportswear company Adidas, and he has also been advertising the Beats headphones worn by many top players.”

Read more in the full article here.

MacDailyNews Take: This time, Suarez may have bitten off more than he can chew.

Ba-dum-chhh!

35 Comments

      1. It’s fucking soccer! Football is an American sport. Where you don’t fake injuries every two minutes. And they don’t have fucking yellow cards for sissies. And check out the Real Sports segment this week on HBO. All about how crooked the sport is and how many players throw the games constantly. What a joke that sport(?) is !

        1. Soccer is an American sport, sport!
          Football is a global sport that Americans call soccer, sport!
          Rugby is a global sport in which men and women are not wrapped up in protective padding, the ovoid ball is shaped thus to make kicking it awkward as its bounce is unpredictable to a certain extent.
          “American Football” players cotton bud themselves in pads to ensure that didums does not get hurt.
          Unless aiming to convert a touch down, a misnomer as the ball doesn’t have to be pressured onto the ground as the players foot supposedly transmits the ball’s touch to the ground, the ball only gets a kicking to convert the touch down and the last set of play if the opponents are nowhere near the other touchdown..
          You have my permission to flame me all you like! I happen to like all three sports and can distinguish the differences of each by way of their historical development and practice through play.
          CAN YOU? Jesse??

        1. Alien V. Suarez
          No acid allowed!

          Suarezahna. A Suarez & Pirahna offspring!

          Die Hard 10. Its a good day to Suarez!

          48 hrs. Lockjawsuarez, the Suarez plague!

          Matchette 6. Danny Trejo V. The Teeth baron Suarez!

          James Bond. Featuring Suarez as Jaws!

          Suarez Pacman for the iPhone & iPad.
          Suarez Superpac for the MacPro! 🙂

  1. It’s precisely dealing with idiots like this that provides a general caveat against using _any_ celebrity, for _any_ purpose, in _any_ advertising. Especially when a brand can stand, as Apple can, on its own two feet.

    1. True, but all the indications show that Beats and Apple will stay completely separate entities; those who buy Beats ‘phones do so because they’re Beats, not because of any kind of Apple connection.
      That’s not to say that Apple-branded ‘phones, made by Beats, with a slightly different aesthetic and sound won’t go on sale in the near future.
      I do have a pair of Beats Solo HD’s, but only because I wanted a pair of ‘phones that were compact when travelling, and were simple in appearance and not over-large, the sound quality, which is pretty underwhelming, I’ve tweaked with an EQ app to give me a much more balanced sound, so a pair from eBay for £100 less than the new price suited me perfectly.

    2. As much as soccer is my favorite sport, it is unfortunate that individuals (so-called superstars) are allowed to “cheat” towards getting a competitive advantage against his opponents. Here is a Vine video updated to twitter of Suarez’s 3 other biting incidents. He was suspended in 2010 for 7 games and again in 2013 for a total of 13 games – https://vine.co/v/MtJH2xOmdOK

  2. He’s an absolutely amazing player and as a Liverpool fan I’ve been in awe of him this season scoring 30+ goals. This was in a season where he missed the first 10 games due to being banned for biting a Chelsea player (his second offence).

    So it’s with a heavy heart that I have to say he has to go. We can’t have someone who behaves like that playing for a club as great as Liverpool. This is the third time, it’s obviously something in his DNA and he can’t be cured.

    Goodbye Luis and thanks for the memories.

  3. I’ll bet that Suarez has a rare form of Tourrettes Syndrome Whereby it’s impossible for him not to be a biter in certain circumstances. I have a son with Tourrettes, who is disabled because of it. He would not be disabled if he’d had control of his head snapping. He wore his spine out. Check out Tourrettes Syndrome before you scoff. I’m one who said Suarez should be banned for life – but on second thoughts …. ?

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