Hi Dave
I know you mean. But I wouldn't call DELIBERATELY stepping onto your opponent's ankle, who is sitting on the floor, a tackle, or part of the game.
I'm aware that a vicious tackle can cause unwanted injuries, but if it is clear that YOUR ONLY INTENTION is to hurt your opponent, that you don't even plan to go for the ball, or if you're acting behind the refs back, I can see absolutely no difference to Suarez's behaviour.
Just to make this clear again, the 9 match ban is totally justified, Suarez fully deserves it, but there are others who deserve(d) the same penalty, as well, if not more, in my opinion. If that's not the case, I will still call it double standards.
And how many mass brawls have we seen in hockey? Dozens. Fist fighting surely isn't mentioned in the rule book as 'part of the game', yet nobody was ever banned for 9 matches, there.
Looking for a scapegoat to cover up your own failure has a long tradition in football. For Uruguay it's the FIFA, for Russia it's the laser pointer, for Italy (against South Korea) it was bad refereeing, etc etc It's something that boggles me, as well. Suarez got no one to blame but himself, really.
But DeJong should have been given an equal time to think about what exactly he's doing in football, as well, don't you agree?