Brendan Rodgers: Liverpool "bitterly disappointed" at Luis Suarez ban

Brendan Rodgers has said that Liverpool are "bitterly disappointed" at the severity of the ban handed to Luis Suarez for his bite on Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic.

The Football Association decided to punish the Uruguayan with a hefty 10-match ban on Wednesday afternoon.

Rodgers, however, has said that the FA have punished the player rather than the incident, and that the ban was too severe compared with other similar incidents in the last few years.

"That is something we are bitterly disappointed with - not so much the ban because everyone has seen it and Luis was very open and honest to know it was wrong," Rodgers told reporters.

"The punishment is against the man, rather than the incident. In the last few years there have been two incidents - both in 2006.

"One player [Jermain Defoe] received no ban and continued to be chosen by the FA as part of the England squad. The second player received a five-game ban."

Rio Ferdinand earlier called upon the FA to review their disciplinary procedures.