Uruguayan President Jose Mujica has called FIFA "a bunch of old sons of bitches" in the latest outraged response in his country to the ban imposed last week on Luis Suarez for biting.
Liverpool striker Suarez has suspended by FIFA from all football-related activity for four months following his bite on Giorgio Chiellini during Uruguay's 1-0 World Cup group win over Italy, in addition to being banned from playing in his national team's next nine fixtures. The Uruguayan FA is appealing the decision.
With Suarez already back home in Uruguay, his side were eliminated from the tournament following a 2-0 defeat to Colombia on Saturday.
At the reception to mark the rest of the squad's return to their home country, Mujica -- a widely popular figure due to his usually common sense approach and humble lifestyle -- was asked by a reporter for his thoughts on world football's governing body.
Video of the incident shows the former guerrilla fighter turned politician saying "FIFA are just a bunch of old sons of bitches," before putting his hand over his mouth, apparently pretending to be shocked at what he has just said.
When the journalist asks if he can publish the quotes, Mujica replied: "Yes, publish."
Later in the short video he returns to add: "They could have punished [Suarez], but not given him this fascist ban."
Both Uruguay's coach Oscar Tabarez and captain Diego Lugano have also been hugely critical of FIFA's handling of the incident, saying the punishment is much too harsh and making allegations of bias against Suarez and Uruguay in general.
The 27-year-old, who has twice been banned for similar biting incidents before in his career, claimed in a defence to FIFA that the incident has been completely misunderstood -- maintaining implausibly that he actually just lost his balance and collided accidentally with Chiellini's shoulder.