Uruguay defends Suarez as FIFA scrambles

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Hisssss!!!

As the world was judging Uruguay's Luis Suarez for biting a player in the World Cup, his teammates, coaches and fans in his soccer-crazy country defended the star, blaming the foreign media, his Italian opponents and uneven treatment.

World Cup organizers scrambled Wednesday to quickly decide on a punishment before Uruguay plays Colombia Saturday in the round of 16.

"We have to resolve it either today or tomorrow," FIFA disciplinary panel member Martin Hong told reporters Wednesday. "It's our duty to see justice done."

A day after he tangled with defender Giorgio Chiellini, Suarez was coping well, according to the Uruguay football federation president.

"Luis is fine. He's been through 1001 battles," Wilmar Valdez told the online site Tenfield.com. "We all know who Luis is and that's why we have to defend him."

The bite — just before Uruguay scored the clinching goal to eliminate the four-time champion Italians —will now test FIFA president Sepp Blatter's often-stated commitment to "fair play, discipline, respect."

FIFA's case against Suarez — announced early Wednesday — will be managed by a Swiss lawyer, Claudio Sulser, chairman of the FIFA disciplinary committee. A former international forward himself, Sulser has worked for four years at FIFA, first as head of its ethics court.

The maximum penalty would be a ban of 24 international matches.

FIFA can also choose to ban Suarez for up to two years. That would cover club and international games and would ruin a widely speculated transfer to Barcelona or Real Madrid.

Suarez and the Uruguay football federation had until 5 p.m. local time Wednesday (4 p.m. EDT/2000 GMT) to present a documented defense.