Owners intervene on Suarez but player power rules

Another blog on this subject !!!

I dont understand why the the media/press keep stoking the flames ?
You all say it is time to move on, or draw a line underneath it. But it seems you want the story to run and run.
I think even Man Utd as a club are fed up of it by now.

Another blog on this?? Come on, surely it's time to blog about Tevez again

I keep hearing "let's draw a line under it".

Yet another blog is not drawing a line under it. I'm starting to feel it might be in the medias interest not to "draw a line under it". Surely that kind of misdirection couldn't be true?!

Suarez doesn't like Evra but had agreed to shake his hand to resolve a massive issue between two clubs. If he had there would not have been a flare up in the tunnel at half time, the full time celebrations would not have been overly exuberant, Suarez and Dalglish would not have had had to apologise and the next games would have been less tense.

Just one handshake!

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

ZZZzzzzzzzzz

Better late than never Bond?

The names Bond. Let's poke this bear one more time Bond.

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

Mr Bond,

If there is nothing worthwhile to say, say nothing.

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

Where are the blogs about Zambia winning their first ever CAF title? A win that came almost 19 years after the 1993 Zambia football team had died in a plane crash near the venue of the 2012 CAF final.

There are some positive football events to report on. As opposed to the lazy approach.

Dalglesh has been a disgrace through all of this sorry saga. The t-shirts he made the players wear were an insult to all the black players in this country I know Suarez had not been found guilty at the time but they were in terrible taste. I wonder how Glen Johnson felt and was there pressure for him to wear the t-shirt.

The thing is Suarez has maintained that he wasn't being racist with the use of his selected terminology so of course he was reluctant to shake Evra's hand. He feels that Evra's accusations amount to slander. Not that I condone it of course; even if it was the case that he is innocent he should have shaken his hand just to put the saga to bed- but as others have said/implied, would the media genuinely liked to have seen that? probably not.

The funniest thing is all the Liverpool fans who posted under Phil Mcnulty's blog the otherday. They managed to twist themselves into such conspiracy theorist knots about the whole thing that watching the handshake in SLOW-MOTION they saw it all as Evras fault and thought the whole thing had been maliciously invented by the media to unfairly victimise Liverpool.

This saga has exposed the remaining presence of racism in football and also the mind bending levels of tribal loyalty that football invokes. Embarrassing for all concerned with Liverpool as their sponsors have noted.

As someone already pointed out we could have had a blog on Zambia winning the ANC , or Mick McCarthy sacked by Wolves , or Big Sam for England , or Norwich over achieving , Tevez returning to training.
In fact anything other than a blog including Suarez, Evra, Ferdinand, or Terry.

#12
Not to mention Ivory Coast's Premier League based players have clearly been practicing penalties with the England team judging by the penalty shoot-out.

Could think of plenty of things to write a blog about...Zambia, Spurs, (even Tevez if you must) but this....again...??

Change to Record!!

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

Oh and another thing, Suarez has admitted what he said, so i don't know why Liverpool fans think Evras 'accusations' have anything to do with it, it doesn't make ANY sense.

Villa fan by the way and have never had anything against Liverpool. First time i'd EVER wanted Man U to win a game.

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

A lot of journalists/bloggers have a social conscience, and what better way to broadcast it than writing about it every week?

The fact is that Saurezgate has taken a turn in a new direction: the initial issue was with the abuse by both Saurez & Terry, the FA's faffing about and then the 8-match ban for Saurez and seemingly no action in the Terry case due to pending criminal charges.

What the FA failed to realise is that the criminal charges were separate from the action needed by soccer's governing body -- you can be found innocent by the long arm of the law, but an individual can still sue in a civil court (see Lawrence case).

What has changed is that Saurez agreed with his club management to shake Evra's hand -- then he reneged, and his manager suddenly develops tunnel vision and basically Liverpool FC as a whole became tainted (after all, you have a high profile manager and player who represent the club -- Dalglish/Saurez = Liverpool FC). And the discussion is now focusing on who needs to do what in order to kick racism out of football. Wearing T-shirts with slogans and posters of prima-donna footballers raises awareness but doesn't tackle the issue. And JT has been there and done that -- if he doesn't believe in the campaign, he should not have been such a hypocrite and should have refused to wear the T-shirt.

The most pertinent bit in the article is the last paragraph:

"Clubs invest millions in their community programmes and act with severity when fans step out of line. Now they need to do the same with their players and managers."

17.
At 14:48 13th Feb 2012, We all follow United wrote:
_______________________________________

Drogba bottled it , then he had the cheek to blame the turf :)

David Bond I hope you're not getting paid for yet more drivel.

Fist of all saying its up to the football clubs not FA or PL to sort it - what utter tosh. The FA and Premier League never lead by example, are never consistent and hardly ever get things right!

You say that Chelsea should suspend Terry but the FA have not??

Another blog on a subject that has been dragged on far too long! LAzy journalism.

Other topics:
1) Zambia winning African Cup of Nations
2) Dwain Chambers winning another 60m title and olympics
3) Latest GB Davis Cup win
4) Thierry Henry - a successful return - as with Robbie Keane

I know you might have to do some real journalism and investigation instead of just re-wording tabloid drivel - but come on what are we paying our license fee for!!

At least it gives us chance to whine some more.

Frankly Mr Bond this is irresponsible. You are grossley oversimplifiing the dispute and equating the whole affair to the race issue. Probably, you are late to the internal agenda at the BBC and making up for lost 'on message' brownie points! Enough has been said on this issue and all sides need time to think out their behavior and actions, including Mr PE and definitely Mr LS. Suggest you find some 'news'.

"Liverpool's actions on Sunday are a start."

A start, in the fight against "player power"?

Did the 2-week suspension of Tévez by MCFC escape your attention?

I feel a bit sorry for Mick :(
I think he is a top bloke.
But I could not believe how bad Wolves were against the baggies !

Unfortunately Liverpool Football Club have acted in a way that could be interpreted as being openly racist. Is it all worth it just to keep hold a player? We are not even talking Messi or Ronaldo here BTW.

For a club with a significant Asian and African fan base, this is akin to shooting yourself in the foot. You have to consider that approximately 61% of world population is Asian, 16%­ African and 11% Caucasian. The remaining 12% is mixed­ to varying degrees - a figure that is increasing year­ on year. These are not exact figures, but they do paint­ a picture.

Most (but not all) of the time, it is the­ 11% caucasian representatives being accused of racism.­ Hypothetically, if someone day the other races were to­ get completely fed and say enough was­ enough...

Another important point to consider is that­ with globalization, mixed marriages and friendship­ between men transcending the sovereignity of nations­ soon the very notion of racism will be so absurd that­ anyone sympathetic to such ideologies would look very­ foolish indeed - not that they are not.

# 27

Warnock for Wolves and Mick for Leeds?

McCarthy 2/1 favourite now for Leeds job - a yorkshireman, won't whinge too much to Batesy - dead cert?

I think on a basis of probability that the BBC and the rest of the media certainly do not want to end this debate!

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

Why are people complaining about this blog???!!!!

The subject matter may be old but the turn of events aren't.

That is the whole point of a blog - to talk about recent events and only today is more recent than yesterday.

Chelsea would probably win more games if Terry was suspended . . .

Let's get a few facts straight here for the record books and then perhaps a line CAN be drawn under it.
Evra was verbally abusing Saurez in the Anfield game and calling his sister names. So he's not totally innocent in all this. Suarez stupidly responded. Suarez nor Liverpool are racists. Saurez was charged with using racially abusive language and until he was found guilty, Liverpool players and the club rightly - yes RIGHTLY supported Saurez, as any club would support its own player.
At Saturday's match Saurez had agreed to shake hands but again stupidly didn't. If you look in the picture on the main football page, you will see Rooney trying to intimidate Saurez and I bet he wasn't the only Manchester United player trying to wind up the opposition.
Now what hasn't been talked about is Ferdinands reluctance to shake Saurez's hand or Ferguson's comments after the game which have only poured petrol on the fire.
Liverpool and Saurez have now issued apologies but I don't see, or hear, any apologies from Manchester United for the behaviour of Ferdinand and Ferguson.
If Manchester United were to issue an apology then I'm sure everyone will kiss and make up but until then, it would seem everyone in the press and the football world are calling Saurez and Liverpool FC racists, which is totally rediculous.
So Ferguson and Fedinand - stand up like men and make an apology to Liverpool FC and Luis Suarez and I'm sure the matter will be closed.

29.
At 14:55 13th Feb 2012, yorkshire_blogster wrote:
___________________________

Oohh , I like that , Mick for Leeds Utd :)

Suarez was wrong, sure. Apologies have been given. Man U has accepted them. Can we please move on from Suarez and concentrate on the much larger racism issues which are apparent everywhere in our world. Unfortunately nobody is perfect, including the BBC as the Independent newspaper exposed on 11 February 2011. The BBC subsequently had to aplogize worldwide for their news documentaries about Malaysia and Egypt where the documentaries were made by a London TV company that was earning millions of pounds from clients which it featured in the programming.

You lot at SKY and the BBC just can't let it go can you? Mr Bond, please explain why you have sought the need to bring this up again when Mr McNulty already blogged on it? Both Utd and Liverpool want to bring this matter to a close, so can you please tell me why you will not?

I agree it's time to get over this. No-one seems to believe that perhaps Evra and Suarez just don't like each other. I can't see how that is so hard to believe as one is a petulant child in a prodigiously gifted Uruguayan body, and the other is a puerile sulker who cost France any chance of respectability at the tournament where they self-destructed. The chances of them being professional are pretty much zero.
Plus, I hear that the fabled "report" ended up advising a decision based on weight of probability (he said he said she said so I'm told), as opposed to evidence, so my opinion is as much a statement of fact as that was, and therefore should be made the subject of the next Tory party conference on how icky some sections of society are and how best to crush them under the jack boots of history.
When is Terry's trial again? And hasn't Titus Bramble got a few headlines pending? Let's move on, and then back, and then on, and then back...

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

32.
At 14:57 13th Feb 2012, racemanracer wrote:

That is the whole point of a blog - to talk about recent events and only today is more recent than yesterday.
__________________________________
McNulty´s blog is currently debating this !
People are just regurgitating the same drivel that has been written for the last few months and posting it here.

i agree with most that a line has been drawn...but yet again the media bandwagon continues to roll on with the issue....

To say that Liverpool is loosing fans over a handshake is ridiculous; I haven't ever met a football fan who would change allegiance so easily. If Liverpool are loosing fans I think it might be the lack of success that’s causing it.

How much drivel can be written on this subject, there was also a game of football played you know, it would be nice if, for a change, the UK media would focus on the football and not on the handbags. I don't think this would even have made the papers in Italy or Spain, but Suarez wouldn't have been suspended in those countries either.

Yet another journalist who thinks we need his wise words! They are falling over themselves.

If the FA thought it was going to do some good with its efforts, well....it didn't turn out that way did it?

Meanwhile the BBC and print media have had a field day, stoked the fire till it seemed it could get no worse, and then stoked some more.

To cap it all, Gary Lineker seques from one match to the next with the puerile
comment 'Let's shake hands...and move on....' How witty!

The BBC should be ashamed.

I used to have a lot of respect for King Kenny - but seeing him lie through his teeth as he told the reporters at the post match interview that 'he did not see the handshake incident' was both embarrassing and painful to watch.

Maybe a blog about how many of the reporters who work for the BBC are non-white would've been more interesting, given John Barnes' radio interviews this weekend?

Or maybe - bearing in mind his ridiculous defence of Suarez - we could've had a blog from John Barnes himself educating us on how many of the top jobs in Uruguay are filled by black people?

People keep saying Suarez should apologise,why should he when after having weeks to consider the so called evidence the FA decided to fine and ban for him 8 weeks when all they had to say was that based on the evidence Suarez was PROBABLY guilty luckily he was not being tried for murder.

#18
I foresee an embarassing U-turn from City's fans if Tevez returns!

@32 - The point is both clubs want the matter brough to a close, or do you not understnad that the same as Mr Bond.
So much more to write about: Spurs great win, Zambia, Mick McCarthy, Wolves, Norwich & Swansea City's great performance in the league so far, Arsenal resurgent again, Bolton in the relegation zone, this weeks European ties etc etc etc

I can see David Bond sitting at his desk thinking..."I can get at least another two to three blog postings out of this..."

I share the sentiments of a lot of the readers on here, let's draw a line under it.

This whole event has revealed the worst of two clubs and to a larger extent the sensationalist English media. The latter of which operate with a sense of self-importance that outshines the biggest ego of any Premier League star.

What the FA should do is have some campaign to stamp out verbal abuse between players and between players/managers and referees. They could even call it something lame like a "Respect" campaign. Don't understand why this hasn't been done? :-)

To see players behaving like spoilt kids refusing to shake hands or celebrating in front of each other is just everything that is wrong with football.

Why don't we look at both sides of the argument?

Nobody other than the most ardent Liverpool fan thinks Suarez is anything but a completely repugnant character, so sooner rid the better for English football....

but what about Evra?

Did he not at least help start all this with vile taunts at Suarez, yet appears to be walking away scot free?

Hurt is in the eye (or in this case, ear) of the beholder and personally I care little if Evra's abuse was racist, homophobic or just plain disgusting.... Suarez has the right to be offended just as Evra supposedly was.

Real journalism, Mr Bond, would give us what Evra said.
Real men, Messrs Evra and Suarez, would "man up" before this got off the pitch.

While the rest of us are way too absorbed by issues of wars, famine, natural disasters, the environment and global finances, it is refreshing to see that the British media is occupying itself with the more pressing issues of the day.

Suarez not shaking Evra's hand. Front page news on bbc.kongjiang.org/www.bbc.co.uk.

Interesting you have used 'a negro' in your blog David. Factually incorrect bobbins.

It would seem that Liverpool football club failed in their efforts to educate Luis Suarez in the English language. The word 'Negrito' in South America is not recognised as a racial insult, almost a term of endearment and maybe if Liverpool F.C. took time to learn something of the culture of the foreign players they chose to sign they may well have been able to have avoided this minor incident. Therefore I believe thet Suarez was very angry to have been labelled a racist by Evra and the press and indeed Manchester United (the whiter than white football club) and so was not ready to shake the hand of his accuser. So step forward Patrice Evra and offer your apologies to Suarez and stop playing the race card. To end, what's the difference between Suarez and Terry? Terry gets charged for racial abuse by the Police, Suarez doesn't.........go figure!!

The point of this blog I guess is to try and unearth the reasons for an apology finally appearing from LFC. Was there an apology after the first LFC/ManU game (no), was there an apology that would have avoided the complaint (no), was there an apology over the wearing of inflamatory shirts (no) was there an apology after the verdict (no) was there an apology after KD continued to stoke the fires by commenting on the injustice at every opportunity (no), was there an apology during or after the game on Saturday by anyone from LFC (Ayre, KD, Suarez) (no). Was there an apology after it got into the global press.... (yes).

So what do we read into this -

LFC are not concerned about their image in the UK - they don't really care if they string their fans along and they don't care about the image that they portray to the watching community (of all ages) in this country.

Global revenue is all that LFC's owners actually care about.

There is a severe issue with leadership at LFC. They have lost control of what is good for them. They have decided to protect their high value asset (Suarez) at all costs - i.e. suarez is of higher value than the uk fans when it comes to LFC.

Now, after spending many millions, KD has been found wanting in his decision making and his communication. This will undermine any further requests for funds and make his job doubly hard. This will follow suarez around for a few years, KD can get rid of the problem and still retain the majority of his well earned reputation by kicking him out. Keeping him is a mighty risk for him - if he does anything like it again then they are both in deep doo doo.

G_U_F

"It has taken four months for Liverpool to admonish Suarez publicly. And only because he refused to shake the hand of Evra. This has nothing to do with the Uruguayan calling Evra a "negro"."

Let me see if I have this straight: a mere 4 months after the initial incident and after reams of copy have been written about this case, the BBC's Sports Editor still doesn't know what it is Suarez is supposed to have said? Not even the FA disciplinary board - the findings of which Suarez and LFC continue to reject - claims Suarez called a Evra "a negro".

Seriously, this is basic stuff.

I'm a life long Liverpool fan and am glad that both Suarez and Kenny have apologised over this sorry affair. I myself have never felt comfortable with the way we have dealt with this from the moment the verdict was reached. The trial was very fair and Suarez was found guilty of racially abusing Evra FACT (as Rafa used to say). At that point he should been told by the board (if not by the manager) to apologise. We then should have taken the ban immediately and moved on.

From watching the handshake on TV however, I formed the impression that Evra was obviously expecting to shake Suarez's hand as per some pre-game agreement, Suarez however snubbed him. Whilst Evra went on to behave like a fool at the end of the game, Suarez let the club down, as did Kenny in his interview with Sky (i'm amazed if he genuinely did not know what had happened).

Hopefully now we can begin to move on. I personally think though that now Suarez should either donate at least a weeks wages or do some voluntary/charity towards an anti-racism cause.

Very interesting post from our Uruguayan friend there

Also I think the cultural differences go deeper - look at the world cup when he handballed it onthe line, they went to win on penalties he was a national hero - we have a different culture so would not accept that

by the same token Suarez may call his friends in Uruguay that term and if they are happy with that fine, but he was not in Uruguay and he was not talking to a Uruguayan - if he walked on to the streets of Brixton and called everyone that word I think he would have more to worry about than a jumped up frenchman!

I am a black person from Uruguay. In my country, where racism is almost inexistent, all my white friends call me "negro". It is the way it is for more than a hundred years. Like "¿Como estas negro?" "How are you negro?". It is Ok for us. Luis Suarez has many good friends in Uruguay from the black race, so the word "negro" is a word we always use when it comes to talk to us, black Uruguayans.
Is it wrong or right? Well, it is the way it is.

------------------------------------------------------------

Right, one more time then i'm done.....

Suarez was not in Uruguay. It is not okay here.

Sack the hacks at the BBC, maybe bringing in some 'non white' journalists would be a good idea!!

#52

SO absorbed in your climbing to the "moral high ground" you only managed a short post on the topic. I only have admiration for your ability to rise above it all, BRAVO!

47. At 15:06 13th Feb 2012, We all follow United wrote:
#18
I foresee an embarassing U-turn from City's fans if Tevez returns!

-------------------

I applaud you for managing to get your dig at City in so early on...usually a couple of pages are needed to distort from the actual blog to the city vs united bashing!

In fairness If he fired us to the PL I'd gladly eat my words...still want him gone in the summer though and to be fair so does every other supporter!

Not sure what's worse, the repetitive drivel of this ongoing saga being re-written, or the fact that I'm still reading this and the other blogs, hoping to find a fresh new informative piece of journalism about the beautiful game.

I suppose its my own fault really, expecting the impossible from Messrs Bond, McNulty and the like. Where journalism seems now to be "copy and paste my last blog, then re-title"

I'm a fool though as I'll still read it and comment, just as they want!

Dear Mr Ferguson, please can we keep Suarez? We are really really sorry. Please don't hurt us anymore.

We are nice club and don't mean to hurt anyone. We really need to hold onto him. He is our bestest player.

Please don't tell the FA and Premierleague to change the rules on your rivals. You can have first pick on all potential transfers in the summer.

We won't cuss you anymore now that you are on Channel 5.

David I would guess that negative headlines in the US would play very badly with their business interests. They got there in the end is all that matters.

Magnificent win for Zambia last night. Well done to them!

And a real shame about Mick McCarthy. Honest pro. He might pick up the Leeds job but a shame to see him go.

#55

to say they only apologised after it got to global press is rubbish - despite their shortfalls the BBC and its website is global and it has been all over it for a couple of weeks

also to say saurez is of higher value than uk fans is even more ridiculous

kenny and luis do not believe Luis did anything wrong because of the cultural differences - so kenny and the team including glen johnson who welcomed suarez back in an interview supported him with t-shirts etc to show they thought he had done nothing wrong

however refusing to shake evras hand, after both clubs had agreed it would take place undermined the owners the manager and the club - hence an apology for that - note no apology for the prior issue!

9.
At 15:02 13th Feb 2012, darioquei wrote:

But please do not be so hypocrite. It is Ok for the english people to drop bombs to murder innocent people in Irak and in Lybia, just for the oil??
And it is the biggest sin to call a black person like me, a "negro".
Call me negro...it is what I am. You can call me negro one million times and I will be proud of beeing a negro.
___________________________________

Fair point !
I think that puts things more into perspective

Unfortunately Liverpool Football Club have acted in a way that could be interpreted as being openly racist. Is it all worth it just to keep hold a player? We are not even talking Messi or Ronaldo here BTW.

For a club with a significant Asian and African fan base, this is akin to shooting yourself in the foot. Would fans and indeed sponsors of other ethnic nationalities still be happy to continue to fund LFC given their very obvious sympathy towards a dark skinned person being addressed a 'negro' in an aggressive manner?

You have to consider that approximately 61% of world population is Asian, 16%­ African and 11% Caucasian. The remaining 12% is mixed­ to varying degrees - a figure that is increasing year­ on year. These are not exact figures, but they do paint­ a picture.

Most (but not all) of the time, it is the­ 11% caucasian representatives being accused of racism.­

It is also important to consider that­ with globalization, mixed marriages and friendship­ between men transcending the sovereignity of nations­ soon the very notion of racism will be so absurd that­ anyone sympathetic to such ideologies would look very­ foolish indeed - not that they are not.

FA cannot take action until the legal proceedings against JT are concluded. The FA cannot or do not want to be seen to prejudice the legal outcome.

When Legal proceedings (and sentencing if JT is found guilty), the FA will launch their own enquiry and penalties (regardless of the legal proceeding outcome.

I have a feeling that JT's offence will not be regarded as severe as Suarez. It is likely that legal team will cite JT's actions as a single incident of "name calling" (unless JT was persistently insulting A.Ferdinand during the QPR game) as opposed to Suarez who persistently racially insulted P.Evra.

I really do not care how good Suarez and John Terry are as players. The Premiership would be a better place without them.

The main thing this whole saga has taught me is that a worrying number of people really aren't that bothered about racism.

The people commenting above are intelligent enough to type. They hardly represent the extremely ignorant end of society's spectrum. How scary to think there are many more in this country who have even less capability to process the message that racism is terribly hateful and offensive.

I am sure these comments will be considered naive, lily-livered, etc, but ultimately it has nothing to do with anything except basic human decency.

If there is one good thing that has come of the Suarez and Terry affairs, it is that it has shone a spotlight on us as a society. We smugly talk about Britain being modern and multi-cultural; a truly progressive country would be appalled by racism full stop. Outside of the hysterical mock outrage mustered by our unbelievably hypocritical media (especially within the tabloid press), the fact is that the general public doesn't really care, and is bored of hearing about both stories. That is daming of us as a country.

I can't help but feel that anyone who says "it's time to move on" or "you don't know the facts" just isn't as offended by racism as they should be.

suarez is not snowhite himself,so its a bit ironic that he should discriminate Evra,for many others he would be a person of colour.

34.At 14:59 13th Feb 2012, joe_average wrote:

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ferdinand has nothing to apologise for. He didn't shake Suarez's hand because he had snubbed Evra.

"After seeing what I saw I decided not to shake his hand. He's not got the respect that he needs to have in these situations and acknowledge he's made a mistake and say sorry. I lost all respect for the guy after that."

As for SAF - he was a bit blunt, understand where the comments came from but he should have checked him self with that comment.........BUT he is right though.

Liverpool have only released those apologies because one of the largest backers of the Fenway group ran a story about it and realised that their investment had turned sour.

The last time we saw commercial suicide to this degree was when Ratner called the goods he sold "crap". And we all know that killed H Samuals as a business.

58 York - absolutely! The comments from 39 are what so many people, especially the FA, are missing.
Why didn't the FA just get Suarez to say: 'sorry, I didn't know it was a bad word in your culture, I apologise for any offence to Evra'. Then they shake hands and both denounce racial abuse. Give Suarez a couple of games ban suspended for 2 more. Easy!
But no, the FA is run by idiots who have no idea how to handle these situations.

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

We won't cuss you anymore now that you are on Channel 5.

------------------------------------------------------------------

Really? A Europa League dig from a fan of a team not even good enough to qualify for it?

Boring issue. Bored to the back teeth with it, though clearly youre not. Change the record will you. Liverpool are boring. 80s man Dalglish is too. They both reek of wet rot! Move on please.

#71
He *is* a person of colour (mixed-race). His grandfather is black.

Funny this: a bunch of mostly WASP pundits and journos talking about how the mixed-race, working-class lad from Montevideo needs to learn what is and isn't "racism". And we wonder why the rest of the footballing world thinks we're arrogant?

Erm..........Suarez didn't call him 'a negro'

It's amazing how many churnalists keep getting things wrong when pretending they read the FA report.

If the media insist on dragging this saga on and on, why not raise the question of why Rio Ferdinand refused to shake hands with Suarez. Was that race or childishness. It didn't help matters either way.

#62
I actually think someone like him is what you were missing yesterday. Tevez buzzing around is a handful, when he can be bothered to come onto the pitch that is!

Surely this completely undermines Mancini's authority at the club though? And maybe hints at a slight panic coming into the home stretch of the season?

@62.At 15:13 13th Feb 2012, swindonbluearmy wrote:

"usually a couple of pages are needed to distort from the actual blog"

La Liga is far superior to the EPL!

Well done Spurs - great result - hopefully Redknapp can get England playing with the same style - sure they will let quite a few in but at least the games will be interesting.

Surprised by the sacking of McCarthy, particularly given the lack of real candidates out there to replace him. I'm sure Ian Dowie is available if needed :)

And yes, well done to Zambia last night - the coach carrying the injured player into the middle so he could celebrate with his teammates was a nice touch.

Oh and as for Suarez and Evra - it only seems to be the media and the diehards who still care about this, so for the rest of us can we please move on to something else.

Has anyone read the article on BBC News about an equation being figured out that accurately predicts the size and shape of a ponytail..........

Perhaps Mr Bond can include that in his next re-gurgitated blog topic.

# 66

Show me a time line of events that proves your assertion? SHow me the actions of LFC that contradict what I have said?

If you are a LFC fan and cannot see you are of less value than a guy with a high price tag and a reputation as being a petulant child then you are deluded. You do know that they apologised only after articles in the NY Times and in the Boston Globe.

Apparently many high street retailers are doing an excellent trade-in deal on rose-tinted specs...you get a free dose of reality for every pair.

David, why do you thingk the "apologies over Suarez took too long"? It was only 24 hours after the incident, after all. Now an apology for the original incident is long overdue, mind.

Does anyone honestly need another blog about this?

Really, WHO CARES?

Rio Ferdinand still hasn't apologised for refusing to shake hands with Suarez, but so what?

The whole thing is boring, and an excuse for people to parade their dubious anti-racist credentials by throwing their hands up in horror.

Enough already.

Zzzzzzzzzzz.

This has already been covered plenty of times.

Yet there is no blog about Newcastle's resounding success this year?
Disgraceful how an act of stupidity from Suarez can gain more publicity than a team who deserve it.


Patches for chief blogger.

Doesn't Suarez realise he is supposed to be a sportsman as well as an ambassador for South American football. He has great skilll leaning towards the likes and high standards of Pele and yet, on the downside, the petulant childish behaviour mirrored by Maradona and Tevez.
Hopefully Suarez will mature, (he should have done it by now at 24), and learn that he cannot behave in such an infantile way, particularly on such a large stage.

So Man United are happy to finally to draw a line on this subject of rival a player refusing to shake the hands of one their own- Hallelujah!!!! Evra's frantic scramble for the Suarez's eluding hand atleast showed he was prepared to finally lay the ghost for a dispute that was only ever between these two players. The fact that the player Evra was clearly over the use of inappropriate language(or to others a misunderstanding of the South American dialect) is a bit much for some people to take over a story that should never end. The fact that player, club and the English Football Association are finally satisfied that they can accept the apologies of not only the player in question but his manager and clubs Footballing Director as a dignified conclusion for a dramatic and ever so complicated saga is such an anticlimax...

Yadda, yadda, yadda. I would suggest that almost anything that clubs, the FA and the Premier League do are driven by commercial motives.

Many other people that have commented on this issue are up to their necks in hypocrisy and sanctimoniousness.

But, lucky we have you to keep our moral compasses on the straight and narrow eh David.

Now, can you get on with asking the FA about their root and branch review and the elephant in the room that is sexism in football rather than flogging this particular dead horse.

It is time to stop this hysteria. Please move on.

The media just won't let this story go away, will they?

Phils blog on the same subject generated over 1800 post mainly with Manchester United and Liverpool fans debating various shades of gray insisting it was black or white.

Let it go!

Clearly, Liverpool fans want this issue to be forgotten and the club's owners insisted that Suarez and Dalglish apologise for their behaviour on Saturday.

Now they should accept that their previous behaviour and actions were inappropriate and apologise to Patrice Evra for their comments about him.

The club's reputation is severely damaged which is why their owners and shirt sponsors are so angry.

This issue is far from over and I suspect that both Suarez and Dalglish have been told in no uncertain terms that their careers are on the line.

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

This is getting really boring. As an ethic minority on the uk. I get racial abuse and discrimination all the time. Yes it is still very common in the uk. But it's not like anyone else is really doing anything about it. It's all a political stance from the FA n media. Nothing more and nothing less.

Some of the posts on the BBC the last few days from Liverpool fans such as
P90AKIMBO. CoalitionOfTheWilting. PragueImp have accused Evra of being responsible and have taken the then party line that Suarez was not responsible. Now that he has apologised do they feel like doing the same?

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

I also failed to shake Patrice Evra's hand on Saturday.
Dont see what the big deal is.

Suarez and Evra both lack class. Their actions at the 2010 World Cup more than emphasised that. Suarez feels aggrieved at Evra; probably because he perceives him as a telltale who went running to the ref when he was called a bad name. Man up, Evra!! I'm not condoning racism but professional soccer players calling each other names on the pitch has been going on forever. The eight match ban was excessive - but the FA was drawing a line in the sand. At the end of the day does it really matter if Suarez shakes Evra's hand? Do you naively believe they are all friends again and it's water under the bridge? Evra's celebration was totally over the top and Ferguson asking for Liverpool to sack Suarez is ridiculous. Didn't see him sacking Cantona after he attacked that Palace fan!

I've been assured that this whole incident was Evra's fault and that Suarez was completely innocent and behaved like any rational human being. Well that's what the Liverpool fans have been saying.