Updated 19.05
LIVERPOOL AND ENGLAND’S Football Association have been given until January 13th to appeal Luis Suarez’s eight-match ban and £40,000 fine for racially abusing Manchester United’s Patrice Evra.
Both the FA and the Merseyside club were served the full and detailed reasons that led to the suspension on Friday (December 30th), according to a statement from the Independent Regulatory Commissision, and now have just under two weeks to decide whether or not to take further action.
The 115-page report is available to read here.
The Commission heard from Spanish language experts during its deliberations and concluded that: “Mr. Evra was a credible witness. He gave his evidence in a calm, composed and clear way. It was, for the most part, consistent, although both he and Mr. Suarez were understandably unable to remember every detail of the exchanges between them.”
The report states that when Evra asked Suarez why he had been kicked during the October clash, the striker replied in Spanish: “Porque tu eres negro,” which was translated as “because you are black.” Evra then said he would punch Suarez if he repeated the comment, to which Suarez replied: “No hablo con los negros” or “I don’t speak to blacks.” The word ‘negro’ was used seven times during the confrontation.
The report’s summary continued: “Mr. Suarez’s evidence was unreliable in relation to matters of critical importance. It was, in part, inconsistent with the contemporaneous evidence, especially the video footage. For example, Mr Suarez said that he pinched Mr Evra’s skin in an attempt to defuse the situation. He also said that his use of the word ‘negro’ to address Mr Evra was conciliatory and friendly. We rejected that evidence.
“To describe his own behaviour in that way was unsustainable and simply incredible given that the players were engaged in an acrimonious argument. That this was put forward by Mr. Suarez was surprising and seriously undermined the reliability of his evidence on other matters. There were also inconsistencies between his accounts given at different times as to what happened.”
“The Charge against Mr. Suarez was that he used insulting words which included a reference to Mr Evra’s colour,” the Commission added. “We have found that charge proved on the evidence and arguments put before us.
“The FA made clear that it did not contend that Mr. Suarez acted as he did because he is a racist. Mr. Evra said in his evidence that he did not think Mr. Suarez is a racist. Mr Suarez said in evidence that he will not use the word “negro” on a football pitch in England in the future, and we believe that is his genuine and firm intention.”
In a short statement, Liverpool confirmed that they would take some time “to read, digest and properly consider” the judgement and would make no further comment.
Meanwhile, PFAI solicitor Stuart Gilhooly tweeted:
“Having skimmed FA report, it’s clear it’s classic conflict of evidence. FA chose to believe Evra but big prob is length of ban unsustainable. Four match ban is entry point but aggravating factors are number of times Evra says he said word, PE says 7 (down from 10) LS says once. As no objective evidence to prove either way, LS should be given benefit of doubt & 4 match ban should apply. Appeal reduce but not overturn.”
Suarez deserves to be banned but not for 8 games when it’s essentially one mans word over another. He is a loose cannon but being a little crazy is often part othe energy that makes a player great. Rooney, Balotelli, Cantona in his day were all examples of players with a bit of a bad streak in them but it’s a thing which is great when it’s turned to positive things.
what tee-shirts will LFC wear now… evidence is pretty damning there against Suarez with his comments. Deserves each of those 8 matches sitting out in the cold. Won’t be his last ban thats for sure.
Why should one man be convicted on another mans word especially someone like evra who has been so unreliable in the past.
I think because he actually admitted using the word deemed offensive in the manner that he did justifies the ban. Also I don’t see how Evra is labelled as unreliable when his side of the story holds up here.
Evra accused a Chelsea grounds man of racism 2 . Its fergie’s FA it’s a man utd v Liverpool
@Jonathan – 2 FACTS for you there to help the lack of information.
1, Suarez admitted it, he said he called him negrito, so that means he admitted, so that means that its not 1 mans word against anothers.
2. Evra didn’t accuse the groundsman, have a google for yourself and see what actually happened.
The last time Evra was involved was when an LFC fan complained to the police that as the fan was able to lip read, they said that Finnan called Evra an “n”.
Going by the pic there you have the LFC shades on there still.
He is guilty as charged, LFC officals agreed on the panel and commended the panel on the hearing after the event. So are they also wrong?
Aload fo Bull shite
Suarez is an idiot on this one but even Evra said in evidence “he didn’t believe he was racist ” so why not a letter of apology and some race relations community service by Suarez problem defused and the right message put out