Uruguay president's comments a slap in the face to the poor

It wouldn't be a soccer World Cup without controversy. This year's tournament in Brazil has been marked by an incident where Uruguayan star Luis Suarez appears to have bitten the Italian Giorgio Chiellini. The international governing body FIFA suspended Suarez for 9 international matches plus 4 months from all soccer activities. It's worth noting that this is the THIRD time Suarez has been charged with biting an opponent since 2010.

Many critics said the punishment was too lenient, for a third time offender. Others in including controversial former Argentine great Diego Maradona, Chiellini himself and, predictably, virtually all Uruguayans felt the sanction was too harsh.

Not surprisingly, Uruguayan president Jose Mujica weighed in. He stated: "We feel that there is an aggression against those who come from poverty. They don't forgive that he didn't go to university. He doesn't have an education."

The leftist Pres. Mujica is internationally known for being the world's poorest president (donating 90% of his salary to charity) and for successfully pushing the legalization of marijuana. I generally have a fairly high regard for him.

But his comments, however understandable in terms of political populism and pandering, are off the mark and his defense of one of the members of The 0.1% does a disservice to those who live in poverty. In most of the world, soccer is the game of the poor and working class. There is no place in the world where biting an opponent isn't considered beyond the pale.

I lived in West Africa and played soccer there as often as I could. I lived in a place where the poverty was far greater than anything you see in Uruguay. In games, I saw people argue, sometimes heatedly. I saw shoving matches and finger pointing and remonstrations. I think I even saw a fist fight. I never saw anything remotely like a person biting another.

In fact, when I lived in West Africa, another famous sports biting incident occurred, that of boxer Evander Holyfield by Mike Tyson. The reaction of poor West African subsistence to this incident was not understanding for Tyson's background or compassion for his poor, misunderstood self but disgust. The universal reaction there was that he was "an animal." And Tyson only did it once.

Pres. Mujica's comments about Suarez, now one of the richest soccer players in the world, are a slap in the face. His contention is that the poor express themselves differently than the rich, that they can't control themselves. His contention is that when poor people get pissed off, it's normal that they express sociopathic behavior like biting. That the poor are teeming rabble who need to be controlled is the message he's sending. Surely without realizing it, he is pandering to, not countering, stereotypes of the poor by the elite. As a real champion of the poor, he can find a better way to defend his country's multimillionaire soccer hero.

Update: Typical of the understated reaction came from Uruguay captain Diego Lugano. He described the suspension of Suarez as "an act of barbarity" and "a breach of human rights."

Sore losers of the month

The sore losers of the month award goes to Asociacion uruguaya de futbol. For a tiny country, Uruguay produces some pretty good soccer players, but class seems to be in short supply.

Following their penalty shootout loss in the Copa America semifinals, players from Uruguay's senior team tried to start a brawl with the Brazilians, who were naturally celebrating an important win.

One night later, Uruguay lost a second round match in extra time to the United States in the Under-20 World Cup. Again, the Uruguay players tried to start a brawl with the celebrating Americans... who play Austria in the quarterfinal.

I'm starting to see a trend.

Additionally, time wasting may not have been invented in the South American country, but Uruguayans seem to have perfected this form of cheating. After Uruguay took the lead with about 15 minutes left, any time a fan in the upper deck sneezed, a Uruguayan player collapsed to the ground in agony. Apparently no one sneezed when Uruguay fell behind in extra time.

Amazingly enough, Mexico did NOT try to start a brawl after being spanked by Argentina in the other Copa America semifinal. When Mexico loses to the USA (which is pretty much any match not in Mexico City), Mexican players pout off the field without the traditional handshake and jersey exchange. Mexican coach Hugo Sanchez praised Argentina as 'the superior team.' Though when the US has won 9 and drawn once in their last 12 vs El Tri (Spanish for 'whinea**'), it's been down to 'luck' every single time, according to the Mexicans. So kudos to Mexico for losing a match with a microgram of grace for the first time in recent memory.