UNLESS you have been living on the moon you cannot have failed to witness some of the hysteria surrounding Luis Suarez and “bite-gate”.

Like the rest of world, apart from Uruguay who somehow seem to be blaming the fiasco on the British press (go figure), I was both stunned and appalled when I witnessed someone regarded as one of the best footballers in the globe sink his teeth into a fellow player’s shoulder.

Since then, there must have been hundreds of miles of column inches devoted (and this here one won’t be helping) written to discuss just how bad the incident really was — and whether or not Suarez deserved his four month ban.

I don’t think anyone could argue this was acceptable behaviour — not least because he has form for it, having previously been banned TWICE before for his vampire-esque activities.

But what has amazed me is the number of people rushing to his defence by saying that footballers are simply that and not role models.

Now, I know they don’t sign up to become figures people look up to, and instead go into the beautiful game because they like kicking a piece of plastic around a field, and are obviously quite good at it.

Although when they play for one of the world’s top clubs, as Suarez does at Liverpool, becoming a role model comes with the job — along with the millionaire pay packet, fast cars and luxury lifestyle.

And when one of these players is lucky enough to be picked to play for his national team in the greatest footballing competition on earth, which is watched by millions and millions of people, that responsibility to set a good example becomes even more important.

I mean, you wouldn’t expect a Sunday league team player to go around biting the opposition, and this is no different.

What also disgusted me was not only the bite, but the way he immediately fell to the floor, claiming to be injured afterwards.

As if gnawing on someone’s arm wasn’t bad enough, Suarez also tried to cheat his way out of trouble.

And what sort of a message does that send out to the youngsters watching this great sportsman?

A bloomin’ terrible one.

I think as well as his ban, Suarez should publicly apologise for his actions to let his fans know that what he did was completely wrong.

Whether or not he wants to be, he IS a role model and he should take that as seriously as he does his football.

And just because he is gifted with a ball doesn’t mean he can get away with the kind of behaviour that could well see the man on the street hauled before a court.