If the sound of cricket is the thwack of leather upon willow, is the footballing equivalent the crunch of enamel upon scapula? On Tuesday evening, during a World Cup group match, Uruguayan striker Luis Suárez appeared to sink his teeth into the shoulder of Italian defender Giorgio Chiellini.
While others seemed lost for words, former England footballer Ian Wright offered the pithiest punditry: “I feel sorry for [Suárez] because he’s obviously not in control of something . . . he needs help.” Having considered incriminating footage of Chiellini’s bruised shoulder, plus two previous offences of snacking on opponents, the sport’s world governing body has dished out a nine-match international ban, a four- month ban on all football and a fine of SFr100,000. He will not even be allowed to enter a stadium.
Suarez’s toothsome savagery appears to be almost primal behaviour of a kind more often associated with wayward toddlers than millionaire sportsmen. Inexplicable, uncontrollable urges live on the dark side of human nature. While Suárez’s bizarre urge to bite emerges only occasionally, apparently in response to extreme frustration on the pitch, some people are dogged by strange urges during every waking hour. In the case of obsessive-compulsive disorder , a compulsion emerges in ugly tandem with an obsession. An obsession with germs, for example, can lead to a compulsion to wash hands. Some sufferers hoard.