Luis Suarez offered his version of events in a letter to FIFA following the biting incident between him and Giorgio Chiellini, claiming to have sunk his teeth into the Italian's shoulder by accident after losing his balance.

Accident or not, the bite has earned the Liverpool and Uruguay striker a four-month ban from all football-related activities.

However, Suarez's comments caused an uproar on social media, with many football fans comparing his excuse to stuff from the school playground.

Here, Sports Mole takes a look at some of the flimsier excuses that sports stars have previously used.

Diego Maradona's 'Hand of God' goal

When you know you have done something wrong, it's useful to find a scapegoat. So when Argentina legend Diego Maradona punched the ball into the back of the net to knock England out of the 1986 World Cup, he put his actions down to divine intervention, infamous declaring that the blatant handball was the "hand of God".

Maradona has since revealed that he hurried his teammates to hug him after he scored, believing that the referee would disallow the goal if they did not celebrate convincingly. He has also spoken out in support of Suarez following his most recent biting incident.

Ronnie O'Sullivan put off by streaker

In the 1997 Masters final, Ronnie O'Sullivan appeared to be cruising to the title as he opened up an 8-3 lead over Steve Davis, leaving him needing just two frames for victory.

However, snooker's first ever streaker interrupted proceedings, resulting in the Nugget winning the next seven frames to complete a remarkable comeback, securing his first Masters title since 1988.

After the match, O'Sullivan admitted that the interruption came as a shock, and that it caused him to lose concentration. However, the Rocket had to deal with another streaker in the 2004 World Championship final, and this time he kept his eyes on the prize to defeat Graeme Dott 18-8.

Ukraine blame frogs for sleepless night

At the 2006 World Cup in Germany, Ukraine suffered a heavy 4-0 defeat at the hands of Spain in their opening match of the tournament.

Rather than putting the defeat down to the wrong team selection or a tactical error, coach Oleg Blokhin claimed that his squad had been kept awake by a swarm of frogs the night before the game, leaving his players too tired to perform at their best.

As a result, Blokhin insisted that the frogs were cleared out ahead of their next match against Saudi Arabia, and bizarrely it seemed to work as they beat them 4-0, before being knocked out by eventual champions Italy in the quarter-finals.

David James's PlayStation obsession

During his spell with Liverpool, David James suffered a dip in form in 1997, culminating in him conceding three goals during a 4-3 win over Newcastle United.

When asked what was causing his errors, the goalkeeper admitted: "I was getting carried away playing Tekken II and Tomb Raider for hours on end."

James made his England debut the same year, and went on to earn 53 caps with the Three Lions.

Nate Burleson breaks his arm saving a pizza

Last year, NFL wide receiver Nate Burleson missed seven games for the Detroit Lions with a broken arm. On the face it, that is nothing unusual for an American Football player. However, Burleson's injuries were sustained as a result of a car crash rather than on the field.

When asked how the accident happened, Burleson revealed that he had lost control of his car while stretching to stop a pepperoni pizza slipping off his passenger seat. He needed surgery to repair the damage, but was able to return to action before the end of the campaign.