Tuesday 3 January 2012

Sorry Liverpool Football Club

Not in an apologetic sense.

But the actual sorry state of the club right now.

They are completely wrong in their handling of the Luis Suarez racism situation.

And it’s time to change their staunch attitude towards supporting Luis and try save some grace.

Because the way things are going - they are on course to do some serious damage to the reputation of this great club.

Following the release of the 115 page document from the Football Association, it has become quite apparent just how guilty Luis actually is.

But Liverpool Football Club seem insistent on giving their full backing to a player who has unequivocally being found guilty of racial abuse.

The show of ‘unity’ from the club by wearing t-shirts supporting Luis before the Wigan game was a disgraceful decision.

If they had t-shirts supporting anti-racism - I could understand.

But to stand by a player who has just been convicted of racism, completely undermined the whole idea of zero tolerance against this disgusting side to the sport.

What was going through Glen Johnson’s head as he warmed up for the game?

It was a baffling decision by Glen as an individual - let alone by a club the size of Liverpool.

At the start of this unsavoury incident, it was unclear as to whether Luis was a racist or actually misinterpreted.

To support a player at this stage is what one would expect from most clubs.

But Liverpool, and Kenny Dalglish in particular, must have known from an early stage that Luis was going to be found guilty.

If they didn’t, then why didn’t they instigate an internal investigation immediately?

Liverpool’s defence was built on misinterpretation, because of the different cultures.

Put a Uruguayan and a Frenchman together in England and it’s easy to understand how that could happen.

But as soon as Luis admitted to actually saying all of the numerous different expressions of the insult that he used, it became clear that he didn’t have a leg to stand on.

According to the 115 page report from the FA, Luis admitted to calling Patrice Evra ‘Negro’ seven times.

He also admitted to saying “Because you’re black” when asked by Patrice why he had kicked him.

He continued with “I don’t speak to blacks” and “OK, blackie, blackie, blackie” during the exchange.

Luis and Kenny were joined by Dirk Kuyt and Damien Comolli in issuing statements regarding the incident.

The FA found them to be ‘inconsistent’ and ‘unreliable’.

At least one of them was lying.

The report suggests at least two.

It is both thorough and conclusive.

And the FA should be commended for their handling of the case.

Clearly stating facts and providing hard evidence.

All of it leading to no doubts about Luis being guilty.

100%.

It was one thing supporting a player before his conviction.

But an entirely different situation if you continue to support a player in this way when found guilty.

An appeal now, would be irresponsible beyond belief from a club that has held so much respect in the footballing world for as long as I can remember.

Liverpool Football Club should back down immediately from their current stance.

Because they aren’t just supporting Luis.

They’re supporting racism.

That part of the situation is black and white...

5 comments:

  1. Paul McGrath had it right, it's all about protecting your interests and investments above ethics. Liverpool aren't alone in adopting this attitude in general, but in this particular instance they're certainly on shaky ground. I genuinely feel that the Liverpool players and fans clubbed around Suarez (a) because he's been their best player this season and (b) because it was his word against a Man U player's.

    Interesting to know whether Dalglish felt he had to go along with the t-shirt incident or whether he was a willing participant. Wouldn't be surprised if he feels a Mourinho-era Chelsea "us against the rest" siege mentality is no bad thing to foster for squad unity, and to hell with the wider societal repercussions.

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  2. Hard evidence?? They had the word of evra who changed his story 3 times? Surely anti racism should be across the board n evra started with reference to south Americans and called his sister a cunt, which he admitted. the report says it was probable that evra s account was the right one that isn't conclusive proof, he admitted calling him Negro ( which deserves a ban) but it hasn't got the same negative connotation s in s America as it does in England or Ireland. You in your blog said he called him blackie blackie, that is what evra said he said but Suarez didn't admit that. racism should be stamped out but you should read the report and not the media s version before you write your blog

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  3. Hi Austin... Interesting article... I couldn't disagree more. The report is sloppy and far from "conclusive" please see an objective 3rd party interpretation below... Omitted from FA report.....

    Have you read the full report??

    http://www.thisisanfield.com/2012/01/professor-in-hispanic-studies-dissects-the-fas-suarez-report/

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  4. Aldo Mazzucchelli is a native speaker of Montevideo, a PhD in Spanish by Stanford, and currently a professor of Spanish at Brown University. Here is his interpretation of what was said. Extremely detailed in his analysis, stay with it, it's worth the read:

    http://www.thisisanfield.com/2012/01/professor-in-hispanic-studies-dissects-the-fas-suarez-report/

    >Puffin Hugger - Do you think LFC hired their own interpreter for the case and if so, why was his testimony not as much to the forefront as this article would suggest it could have been?

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  5. I only have as much information as the British tabloid journalists do... So I can't answer your question. LFC must have had this information to hand when they vehemently defended Saurezs reputation in their statement however we don't know if they offered this to the investigation and whether the FA chose to exclude this. It seems odd that they exclude a piece like the above but then choose to include Camolis secondary evidence of his interpretation of Saurezs version of events when they could simply include Saurezs primary version of events...

    The British tabloid the Mirror concluded Saurez was guilty before the report was even concluded which I think is more of a reflection on them than the event itself. Plus the banner headline "Racist" will not be repeated in the Terry story either.

    I think too many people are offering conclusive opinions on an event to which they have limited information on except that of the Brit media and and an inconclusive FA report which simply favors one mans word over another's.

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