In June 2014 at the Football World Cup in Brazil, Uruguayan footballer, Luis Suarez bit Italian defender Giorgio Chiellini. If Suarez’s actions had taken place off the field, this act would be deemed criminal. Suarez, however, was not criminally charged; he was merely suspended for a number of games, despite the fact that this was not his first offense. Legal sanctions for sporting violence are rare. There are many reasons for this: sports governing bodies are trusted through their rules to contain physically invasive conduct to an acceptable level; participants are seen voluntarily to consent to these rules; and sports-specific, as opposed to legal, sanctions are seen as a more effective means of punishing a misbehaving player.