MUNICH, June 25 — Uruguayan striker Luis Suarez left sponsor Adidas AG with a World Cupdilemma by appearing to bite an Italian opponent during yesterday’s game.

Television images appeared to show Suarez sinking his teeth into defender Giorgio Chiellini’s shoulder in a 1-0 victory in Natal, Brazil, that qualified Uruguay for the round of 16 of the football tournament and eliminated four-time champion Italy.

Suarez, 27, who was banned for 10 matches last year in the English Premier League for biting an opponent, ignored reporters’ questions after the match. Football ruling body FIFA said it’s investigating.

“I can foresee Adidas saying that’s it,” Simon Chadwick, a professor of sports business strategy at the UK’s Coventry University, said in a telephone interview. “Suarez is testing their limits.”

Suarez, the Premier League player of the season for Liverpool, is among an Adidas portfolio of football players including Argentina’s Lionel Messi who promoted the brand in an advertisement released ahead of the World Cup.

A year after giving Suarez a warning about his conduct, Chadwick said Adidas will again come under pressure to act as a “moral arbiter” and end its association with him.

Officials at Adidas, the US$22 billion (RM71 billion) sporting goods maker based in Herzogenaurach, Germany, didn’t immediately return e-mails and voice messages left after office hours seeking comment about whether the company would drop Suarez.

Adidas sales

Adidas said earlier today it will have football-related sales of €2 billion this year as theWorld Cup boosts demand for its balls and sports gear. It is trying to fend off US rival Nike Inc in the US$17 billion global football-products market.

After Suarez got his Premier League ban last year for biting Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic during a game, Adidas said it would be “reminding” the Liverpool player of the standards the brand expects from endorsers. When he played for Amsterdam-based team Ajax, Suarez received a seven-game suspension in 2010 for biting an opponent.

No ejection

Chiellini raced over to the referee to show his shoulder during the game yesterday after Suarez appeared to bite him. Suarez wasn’t ejected or penalized. Chiellini said in a television interview that Suarez’s teeth left a mark on his shoulder.

The latest incident won’t hurt Adidas revenue, except possibly in Italy, according to Paul Swinand, an analyst at Morningstar Inc. in Chicago who tracks sports apparel brands. If Adidas drops Suarez, the striker could move to Nike, Swinand added in a phone interview.

“Maybe he doesn’t fit with their style, but if Adidas releases him he’s going to go to the opposition,” Swinand said. “If Nike handles the bad-boy image well, it could be good for sales.” — Bloomberg