SOMETIMES, SPORTSMEN COMPLETELY lose the run of themselves.
Some acts are viewed as more acceptable than others. Kicking and punching is usually taken as part of the game, but if spitting is high up on the deplorable scale in sport, sinking your teeth into the flesh of an opponent never brings anything short of an alarmed reaction.
Luis Suarez’ moment of madness on Branislav Ivanovic today will hopefully be the last, but he was certainly not the first to show his frustration through his incisors and canines.
Luis Suarez
Oh, yeah. Him again.
He’s shown hunger for more than goals before, hasn’t he? Even before he was a glint in the Kop’s eye, Suarez had a… erm, taste for controversy when the Ajax captain bit PSV’s Otman Bakkal on the shoulder.
His punishment then was a seven-game domestic ban.
YouTube credit: NLundergroundmusic
Mike Tyson
The baddest bite on the planet? Probably the most infamous of all. Mike Tyson’s frustration at being beaten by Evander Holyfield’s superior reach left the Real Deal jumping and clutching his bloody ear. Skip to the 2.40 mark for the highlight.
YouTube credit: iffyjose
Dylan Hartley
The English hooker could hardly have picked a meatier target than Stephen Ferris during Ireland’s humiliating 30-9 defeat at Twickenham last year.
©INPHO/James Crombie
The lowest entry point for the offence under rugby rules is 12 weeks, but Northampton man received just eight weeks as the judiciary committee took into account five years of ‘good behaviour’. The reduced ban conveniently left him free to tour with England last summer.
Jermaine Defoe
Somehow, young Defoe escaped punishment (we don’t count the yellow as real punishment) for retaliating against Javier Mascherano when Spurs met West Ham in 2006.
YouTube credit: DaveyGravy2006
James Graham
The English rugby league star took a liking to Billy Slater’s ear during last year’s NRL grand final in Australia.
The former St Helen’ss prop was handed a 12-match ban.
Unnamed Dublin footballer
Paddy McBrearty was allegedly the main course for one Dublin footballer during the All Ireland champions’ defeat in Ballybofey on 7 April.
Though Dublin are expected to contest the charge should one come their way, McBrearty was treated for marks consistent with a bite in Letterkenny general hospital on the night in question.
Francisco Gallardo
Not so much a bite as a ‘friendly nibble’. It was no less bizarre as the Sevilla player’s target was the genitalia of his team-mate Jose Antonio Reyes.
The action gifted us the magnificent headline, ‘Player shocked by penis probe’ from Reuters.
YouTube credit: Jagaduwah
