Calls for Suarez appeal gather momentum

The Uruguayan Professional Footballers' Mutual Association (MUFP) are planning to appeal Luis Suarez's international ban, claiming the Barcelona forward is the "victim" of alleged corruption engulfing football's governing body.

Suarez was banned for four months by FIFA after biting opponent Giorgio Chiellini during Uruguay's World Cup group-stage clash with Italy in June.

The then Liverpool forward was also handed a nine-game international suspension, making him ineligible for the 2015 Copa America in Chile, starting in June, after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) rejected his appeal.

But with FIFA in turmoil in the wake of nine of its officials among 14 individuals to have been indicted by the United States Department of Justice regarding allegations of racketeering, conspiracy and corruption, the MUFP claim Suarez's sanction should be overturned.

"If Luis Suarez is in agreement, we will ask for the end of the suspension... due to [the player] having been suspended by an organisation suspected of corruption," the MUFP wrote via their Twitter account.

"It doesn't matter that the clubs have withdrawn their complaints because of external pressures, it is time to unite and fight so that justice is done with their funds and the Suarez sanction.

"He was a victim, without doubt, of this alleged corruption."