SOCCER ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE:LUIS SUAREZ faces a racism charge that threatens huge ramifications for the Liverpool striker and his club after the English Football Association announced he had a case to answer over Patrice Evra's allegations he suffered sustained racist abuse during Manchester United's recent visit to Anfield.
A month after the investigation began, the FA has ruled it has enough evidence to charge Suarez with an offence that, if proven, will lead to a substantial ban. A precedent was set in 2003 when John Mackie of Reading was banned for eight matches, five of which were suspended, after making racist remarks to the Sheffield United striker Carl Asaba.
However, Mackie admitted that charge whereas Suarez is denying his, meaning he would almost certainly face tougher sanctions if he were found guilty.
Liverpool responded immediately by announcing that Suarez would plead not guilty, adding that they “remain fully supportive of Luis” in a dispute that threatens to have serious repercussions for the club’s relationship with United.
Evra had complained after the match that he was abused “at least 10 times” and his statement to the FA accuses Suarez of using a Spanish variation of the N-word.
Suarez has categorically denied the allegations, saying the words he allegedly used were not offensive or racist, but the FA investigators disagree, charging the Uruguay international with “abusive and/or insulting words and/or behaviour contrary to FA rules”, including “a reference to the ethnic origin and/or colour and/or race of Patrice Evra”.
Within minutes Liverpool had released their own statement to make it clear that Suarez would continue to maintain his innocence.
“The club this afternoon received notification from the Football Association of their decision to charge Luis Suarez and will take time to review properly the documentation.
“We will discuss the matter fully with him when he returns from international duty, but he will plead not guilty to the charge and we expect him to request a personal hearing.
“Luis remains determined to clear his name of the allegation made against him by Patrice Evra. The club remain fully supportive of Luis in this matter.”
The crux of the case appears to depend on whether the FA can prove there was racial intent behind Suarez’s words but it is a complex issue given that in Uruguay it is common practice for people to use derivatives of “negro” in a non-offensive way.
“Negrito”, for example, is a word that is often used without being deemed as racist.
However, the fact Suarez and the France international Evra were arguing at the time counts against the Liverpool player and the FA is clearly not satisfied with his first public words on the matter, when he talked last week of it merely being a “way of expressing myself. I called him something his team-mates at Manchester call him, and even they were surprised by his reaction.”
Liverpool would be compelled to take their own action against Suarez if he were found guilty and their manager, Kenny Dalglish, faces personal embarrassment after steadfastly defending the player over recent weeks, insisting there was no case to answer.
The Anfield club face the possibility that a long, drawn-out dispute could disrupt their season.
Suarez has been their best player this season, underlying his ability by scoring all of Uruguay’s goals in a 4-0 defeat of Chile on Saturday.
Evra told French television directly after the match that Suarez had been trying “to wind me up” and that “there are cameras, you can see him say a certain word to me at least 10 times. There is no place for that in 2011.”
Guardian Service
