The Uruguay centre-half has launched an astonishing attack against Fifa after the penalty imposed on the striker, accusing the governing body of a breach of human rights

Diego Lugano has lashed out at the sanctions imposed on his Uruguay teammate Luis Suarez, describing his record ban as “an act of brutality.”

Fifa imposed a nine-game international ban and suspended Suarez from all football-related activity for four months after finding him guilty of biting Giorgio Chiellini during Uruguay’s final Group D clash last Tuesday.

The Liverpool forward was absent for Saturday’s 2-0 second-round defeat Colombia and, following la Celeste’s World Cup exit, Lugano fumed at the injustice he saw in the punishment.

“It’s a breach of human rights that a player cannot go into a stadium where there are 80,000 people or into a hotel with his teammates, that he cannot work for four months,” the 33-year-old defender told a press conference.

“He has committed a crime, but this [ban] is barbarity. Not even a criminal would receive this penalty.”

Uruguay struggled without Suarez in the Maracana against los Cafeteros, offering little response to James Rodriguez’s two strikes, and Lugano stressed that he was not surprised that they encountered difficulties without their star man.

“He is irreplaceable,” the centre-back said of Suarez.

“Against Colombia we weren’t able to replace the skills he has. For years he has been our best player.

“Us losing him is much worse even than Brazil losing Neymar or Argentina losing [Lionel] Messi.”

Edinson Cavani, however, denied that the furore around Suarez had distracted the Uruguay camp leading up to the game.

“From the moment we knew about the sanction, we only thought about Colombia,” the Paris Saint-Germain striker said.

“We knew it was a tough penalty, both for him and for us, but from that moment we separated ourselves from it and we concentrated on our players.”