Men behaving badly

Cooks are fond of saying that “an ounce of sauce covers a multitude of sins.” Those who follow sports may have noticed that a similar mentality seems to have permeated the collective mindset.

As much as we like to discuss lofty ideals like fair play and think of sports as a builder of character, the actions of athletes increasingly reveal concepts like these to be myths. In the world of elite athletes, the content of their characters too often skew toward the childish, and from fans to pundits to front offices there is a sliding scale of tolerance in place that forgives the most egregious offenses in proportion to the skill level of the offender.

Look no further than Exhibit A: Luis Suarez.

The Liverpool striker is indisputably the most gifted scorer in the English Premier League this season, having recently notched his 30th goal of the season across all competitions in a 2-2 draw against Chelsea. The Uruguayan has a nose for the net like few others in the league. But when the Professional Footballers’ Association selects its Player of the Year at the end of the season, their decision will be a bit more complicated than simply choosing the most talented athlete on the pitch.

In between setting up Daniel Sturridge’s goal in the 52nd minute and scoring his own equalizer in the final minute of the match on Sunday, the 26-year-old opted to use his jaws to settle a skirmish. Entangled with Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic on a set play near the goal, Suarez resolved the dispute by sinking his teeth into the fullback’s arm. The referee failed to penalize the action in the flow of play, but the Football Association reviewed the video afterward and will likely put an end to Suarez’s season with a suspension thanks to his recidivist mandible.

That’s right—it was a bite that led Suarez to Liverpool in the first place. In November 2010, while playing with Ajax in the Dutch league, the striker gnawed on the clavicle of PSV Eindhoven’s Otman Bakkal, earning himself a fine and a seven-game suspension. It would be his final game with the Amsterdam club.

It didn’t seem to bother Liverpool, though, as the club negotiated to get Suarez to England on the strength of a brilliant but controversial World Cup campaign the previous summer, where he was ejected from Uruguay’s quarterfinal against Ghana for an impromptu block with his hands in a match that Uruguay would ultimately win on penalties. Suarez was labeled a cheat but ultimately forgiven, making him no different from any other talented athlete who gets a pass as long as he or she continues to put up the numbers.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Liverpool has come out publicly in support of their striker after this latest transgression, though they made sure to level the requisite fine first. When the BBC asked the club’s Managing Director Ian Ayre whether he would consider selling Suarez, Ayre responded, “Not at all. It affects his future in the sense that we have to work with him on his discipline, but Luis is a very important player to the club…As we keep saying, he signed a new four-year contract last summer and we’d all love to see him here throughout that contract. He’s a fantastic player, top scorer and everything we’d want in a striker, so there’s no change there.”

Regardless of the FA’s ultimate ruling in the case, one thing is certain: Suarez will be back next season to don the iconic kit of Liverpool once again. They don’t have much of a choice, really—if the club suddenly decided to take an ethical stand against his behavior, there would be plenty of suitors lining up to dole out the funds to get him into their lineup. Besides, when you’ve got a proven scorer on the roster, what’s a dental imprint (or two) on an opposing player’s body in the grand scheme of things? Goals are hard to come by in the English Premier League, after all—the sauce that covers the sins of a repeat offender.