Football Association says Liverpool striker Luis Suarez has not appealed his 10-match ban

LONDON – Liverpool striker Luis Suarez chose Friday not to appeal his 10-match ban for biting an opponent during a Premier League game.

The Football Association said Suarez’s suspension will begin immediately, meaning he will miss the last four games of this season and the first six of the next.

The Uruguay international was handed one of English football’s harshest penalties for on-the-field misbehaviour for biting Branislav Ivanovic’s arm during Liverpool’s 2-2 draw with Chelsea on Sunday.

Suarez could have appealed against the decision of an independent panel to add seven games to the regular three for violent conduct, which the FA deemed insufficient.

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers said the punishment was given “against the man rather than the incident,” with Suarez having previously been suspended for seven matches for biting an opponent in a Dutch league game in 2010 and also for eight games for racially abusing Manchester United defender Patrice Evra in 2011.

Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina said he felt the ban is “absurd, out of proportion and unfair.”

However, British Prime Minister David Cameron said Friday that Suarez has set an “appalling” example to youngsters by biting a fellow player and welcomed the tough sanction.

“I made my own views clear just as a dad watching the game,” Cameron said. “I’ve got a 7-year-old son who just loves watching football and when players behave like this it just sets the most appalling example to young people in our country.

“I’ve read in some newspapers, who think somehow this isn’t serious,” Cameron added. “I think it is serious, when we’re trying to bring up our children properly, they do see football players as role models.”

The FA said it will release the independent panel’s written reasons in due course.