Suarez v Evra
I know I am slow with this blog post!!!
Its been a few weeks since Suarez was banned for 8 matches. I originally planned to blog about it right after he was banned but decided to wait for the FA Report.
Past "cases" involving Evra
Before I talk about the actual Evra v Suarez case, I just wanted to mention what lots of people were saying about how Evra is an "unreliable" witness. They bring up that he has claimed racism against him previously and they were unfounded. Even in the official LFC statement it mentions it - (HOWEVER, that statement is an embarrassment).
The 2 previous cases were involving that Chelsea ground man and the other was against Steve Finnan. The Chelsea case was not Evra who claimed racism. The Steven Finnan case was actually a member of the public. I believe is was a fan who was hard of hearing so lip-read what Finnan apparently said.
Suarez v Evra
I think we will never know 100% exactly what was said because it was kind of Suarez's word against Evra's. Suarez actually admitted using the word "negro". Suarez said he only said it once but Evra claimed he said it several times. Either way, the word may be acceptable in his home country but is not here in the UK. He should know this since he's actually been playing in Europe for a few years. He said he never used it on a derogatory way. Why bother saying it to Evra?? Personally, I think he knew what he was doing and was trying to wind up Evra.
An apology - kind of
Suarez has kind of apologised for it. He said "I never, ever used this word in a derogatory way and if it offends anyone then I want to apologise for that." So he's not apologised for saying that word but just saying if someone was offended . Maybe if Suarez, right at the start of all this and just after the match, admitted that he used racist language. Said that although the language he used was acceptable in his home country, understands that it is not accepted here in the UK and that in the heat of the moment, acted like an idiot and used the racist language and was sorry for doing so. Maybe then it would have been OK and not all drawn out like it has been.
FA Report
I admit I have not read all of the FA Report but have read the key bits and read articles on people who have read it. Its not nice reading some of the things which are alleged to have been said and done. Of course, there are 2 sides to every story and there are discrepancies between what Evra and Suarez said. Reading the report and the points it makes, it makes the laughable statement which Liverpool FC released even more embarrassing. One of the most laughable points from the LFC report was about the fact that Suarez's granddad is black. Its like that automatically means he can't be racist and its not possible he used racist language???
Some points :
- Suarez said he "pinched Mr Evra's skin in an attempt to defuse the situation". WTF??! How does pinching someones skin defuse a situation.
- The FA's case, according to the report, was that Evra asked Suarez why he had kicked him, to which the forward replied: "Because you are black."
- When Evra challenged him to repeat the answer and said he would "punch him", Suarez said: "I don't speak to blacks."
- According the the report, Evra then told Suarez he was going to hit him, to which the Uruguay international replied in Spanish: "Dale, negro, negro, negro." That translates to "okay, blackie, blackie, blackie".
- Suarez denied the charge. The report stated that Suarez said he "used the word 'negro' in a way with which he was familiar from his upbringing in Uruguay".
- Suarez has said he said "Por que, negro?" to Evra, which was intended to be in a friendly way.
If these things are true, its shocking terrible behaviour from Suarez. In fact, he could be lucky its just an 8 match ban!
It will be interesting to see what happens when he comes back especially if when playing United - which could be his first game back! Also, United play Liverpool in FA Cup next week so will be interesting what LFC fans reaction is to Evra.
