A three-man panel has criticised Leeds United striker Souleymane Doukara after failing to ‘present well as a witness’ following a commission into his eight-match biting ban. The Yorkshire Evening Post has covered this story, revealing that Doukara providing ‘no credible explanation’ for the injury to Fulham’s Fernando Amorebieta.
The incident took place in February, when Doukara was alleged to have bitten Amorebieta. This led to the ex-Catania forward receiving his ban, as well as a £5,000 fine by the Football Association.
The 24-year-old won’t return from his suspension until the final game of the Championship season, but he has today been criticised for not just the incident itself, but in the weeks since then.
The commission used evident such as photographs of Amorebieta’s injuries, video footage and witnesses such as Fulham physio Tim Maynard. Doukara denied the charge, but the commissions verdict slammed the conduct of Doukara,
“He (Doukara) gave no credible explanation as to how the injury to Mr Amorebieta had occurred if it had not been from a bite from himself.
“He seemed to think that if the bite had not actually been seen then he would be exonerated – ‘you can’t know if I did that’.”
The commission also claimed that Doukara felt as though Fulham were over-eggarating the incident in the hope of gaining an advantage over Leeds in their quest to finish higher up in the league table.
The verdict resolved that Amorebieta clearly sustained his injury following a bite,
“It is clear to the commission that the mark was made by a bite.
“From the available photographs the commission could see that the mark was circular in nature and teeth marks can be seen at the outer edges of the mark.”
The football club have been contacted to see if they will appeal the verdict and punishment handed out to the Frenchman, but they have failed to reply. At the time of the suspension being announced, they revealed they would issue a response once a written judgement was supplied. The story continues.
