So it would seem that verbally abusing a member of an opponents family and/or threatening said opponent with violence are OK, although both breach rule E3(1), the rule under which Suarez was charged.
In the 2006 World Cup final, Zidane was sent off for head butting an Italian player who had verbally abused the Frenchman's sister. FIFA later suspended the Italian. Why has the FA not suspended Evra?
The abridged content of the FA report is now on all mainstream media websites for all to see. Instead of taking up the "Liverpool victim" attitude why not just accept the report and its content?
Having said that, you do have to feel sorry for Liverpool and their players and fans - it seems that they are regular victims of injustice especially if it involves their rivals. So yes, maybe whining and moaning about perceived injustices is the Liverpool way whilst others just get on with their jobs in a dignified way and show respect to the FA instead of sticking two fingers (or even one finger) up at it.
As a matter of interest - based on the report - why would the FA ban Evra? On what grounds? Perhaps you know something that is not in the FA report? Or perhaps you feel that the FA is victimising Liverpool?
When Evra challenged him to repeat the answer and said he would "punch him","According to the report, Evra admitted that he begun the exchange with Suarez by referring to the Uruguayan's sister in Spanish."
The above paragraphs are taken from the link on the BBC's website.
Football Association Rules
Rule E3(1): "A Participant shall at all times act in the best interests of the game and shall not act in any manner which is improper or brings the game into disrepute or use any one, or a combination of, violent conduct, serious foul play, threatening, abusive, indecent or insulting words or behaviour.
I doubt very much that Evra said that Suarez has a beautiful sister, so upon his own admission, he has broken rule E3(1) by being both abusive and threatening violence.
should just follow rugby league and be done with it xx
No I did not . I'm not aware that Evra racially abused Suarez and it's Evra's indiscretions I'm referring to, not the ones that Suarez was found guilty of.
Fairy nuff. And Happy New Year xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Some people digging deeper and deeper holes for themselves on here.
I suspect that there will be more to this particularly if a formal complaint is made to the Police and then the outcome will not reflect well at all on Liverpool Football Club.
A dignified acceptance of the verdict with a mitigating statement was the right thing to do. What they did do was wrong and is drawing unnecessary attention from all quarters and with that attention comes pressure which all detracts from what the football club should be concentrating on.
Disagree 100% Too hot. Sometimes you have to make a stand for what you think is right. Sometimes you have to make a stand when you think a family member, friend or colleague has been mis treated. People do not always slink away and accept verdicts thats why verdicts get over turned. When you believe that something is wrong or a decision is unfair its ok to make a statement and not slink off with your tail between your legs.
Who knows what the actual outcome will be? Who will even remember in 12 months time? Still sometimes its right to stick up for yourself or others.
Why would I? I have far better things to do and as I have said all along - it might not be what I agree with but it is just how things are in this country and hence I agree with the post. Liverpool FC have been wrong to support Suarez in the way that they have. From the Guardian Newspaper:
" Liverpool may not have to contend with just punishment from the FA either. Speaking on a local Liverpool radio station on Saturday, Luther Blissett, the former Watford and Milan striker who now works as an ambassador for Show Racism the Red Card, raised the prospect of legal action.
Blissett said: "If Suárez is found guilty then you have got to look at supporters who have been found guilty of this sort of thing and people have gone to jail for it. If that is the case, you could anticipate the same sort of thing happening to him. You look at his profile, and people label sportsmen in the public eye as a role model, then it is doubly important they do something about it. If he's found guilty of this then he should be treated just like everybody else. You've got to abide by the law of the land. It doesn't matter how much money you have, the law is the law."
Unlike some who are adding to this thread I have no vested interest in the case as I don't particularly follow football these days but things like this just bring all the bad things about football into the wider public arena. Take your red and white scarves off and look at what the case is doing and the potential damage it still has to do to Liverpool FC ubnless it is quietly put to bed.
How can it be a micarriage of justice? He admitted using the offensive words and tried to mitigate their use as being friendly when in fact he was hissing and snarling. This is why his evidence was found to be inconsistent. There can't be a miscartriage of justice if you admit to your wrong doing and just try to explain why you did it. I am really surprised by your attitude towards this. Suarez has been found guilty by an impartial panel and his ban was 8 games because of a socially unacceptable word that he used 7 times.
The Luther Blissett piece is also in The Sun if the Guardian makes you so hystertical:
I am sure that the story will appear in more controversial detail as the days progress.
This is nothing to do with a miscarriage of justice but all about spoilt and petulant overpaid children not knowing right from wrong.
There is no excuse for racism or sexism in our society and I think that Liverpool FC will be getting some good advice to let this go and conduct a damage limitation exercise instead of rallying behind the little idiot who admitted his own guilt anyway. There is a grounswell of public and media opinion about this now that the report has been issued and no one at Liverpool is so foolish as to keep trying to hold back the tide. Their supporters may be, but not the Owners & Directors.
BTW I have noted but avoided drawing attention to your comments about Luther Blissett on the understanding that you probably did not connect his racial origin to this entire debate. If, like him, you had suffered racial abuse at any time in your life you would, of course, be sensitive to this and if politically motivated - make an effort to make sure that it was well and truly stamped out - for ever. Your inferred criticism of Luther Blissett (& Stan Collymore) for supporting the action against Suarez is at best distateful considering the small minded attitudes that they themselves had to put up for years during their playing careers.
Now when it comes to impartiality, The Sun really is the newspaper to look to.
Looks like they are quietly putting this one to bed....
A statement from Liverpool FC:
It is our strongly held conviction that the Football Association and the panel it selected constructed a highly subjective case against Luis Suarez based on an accusation that was ultimately unsubstantiated.
The FA and the panel chose to consistently and methodically accept and embrace arguments leading to a set of conclusions that found Mr. Suarez to "probably" be guilty while in the same manner deciding to completely dismiss the testimony that countered their overall suppositions.
Mr. Evra was deemed to be credible in spite of admitting that he himself used insulting and threatening words towards Luis and that his initial charge as to the word used was somehow a mistake.
The facts in this case were that an accusation was made, a rebuttal was given and there was video of the match. The remaining facts came from testimony of people who did not corroborate any accusation made by Mr. Evra.
In its determination to prove its conclusions to the public through a clearly subjective 115-page document, the FA panel has damaged the reputation of one the Premier League's best players, deciding he should be punished and banned for perhaps a quarter of a season. This case has also provided a template in which a club's rival can bring about a significant ban for a top player without anything beyond an accusation.
Nevertheless, there are ultimately larger issues than whether or not Luis Suarez has been treated fairly by the Football Association in this matter. There are important points we want to make today that overshadow what has occurred during the past two months.
The issue of race in sports, as in other industries, has a very poor history. Far too often, and in far too many countries, the issues of racism and discrimination have been covered over or ignored.
In America, where Liverpool ownership resides, there was a shameful bigotry that prevented black athletes from competing at the highest levels for decades.
English football has led the world in welcoming all nationalities and creeds into its Premier League and its leagues below, and Liverpool Football Club itself has been a leader in taking a progressive stance on issues of race and inclusion. The Luis Suarez case has to end so that the Premier League, the Football Association and the Club can continue the progress that has been made and will continue to be made and not risk a perception, at least by some, that would diminish our commitment on these issues.
Liverpool Football Club have supported Luis Suarez because we fundamentally do not believe that Luis on that day - or frankly any other - did or would engage in a racist act. Notably, his actions on and off the pitch with his teammates and in the community have demonstrated his belief that all athletes can play together and that the colour of a person's skin is irrelevant.
Continuing a fight for justice in this particular case beyond today would only obscure the fact that the Club wholeheartedly supports the efforts of the Football Association, the Football League and the Premier League to put an end to any form of racism in English football.
It is time to put the Luis Suarez matter to rest and for all of us, going forward, to work together to stamp out racism in every form both inside and outside the sport.
It is for this reason that we will not appeal the eight-game suspension of Luis Suarez.
max.
i could not have put that better myself max.
evra is a liar and has put his faith in the race card, and guess what? he won. :twisted:
mention a persons colour in an argument now and your crime is deemed worse than a murderers. had suaez murdered someone he would have got treated more favorably.
has suaez not admitted to using a word to evra and denied it all, there would have been no case to answer. but his honesty and trust in a system has deemed him a filthy racist.
justice? i do not beleeve that word exists now in this country i am afraid to say.
Unlike people on this Forum, the Directors at Liverpool have decided that it might be better to let this go.
Eventually, a cool head and rational thought saves the global reputation of the football club.
As for the people on here - just try looking outside your insular LFC supporters network and see what the rest of the media and indeed the world is saying and just take it on the chin - if only for the long term benefit of the Club you purport to support.
As my final input to this thread - look back through it and you will see all along that I have advocated an acceptance by Liverpool of the charges and that is what they have done. It is the right thing for Liverpool and the right thing for football. I don't support Liverpool and I watch football pretty impartially if there is a good game on but I would say that I have more of the best interest of Liverpool FC in my stance than some of you "supporters" who seem intent on dragging your Club further into disrepute by stubborn denial.
In terms of Evra - some facts do need correcting which might explain why Liverpools defence being an attack on Evra failed so miserably:
It is an urban myth, now taken as fact, that Evra made the formal complaint about the Chelsea groundsman. It was MUFC coaching staff that made the complaint not Evra. Evra also remained silent when the "lip reading" fans complained about Steve Finnans alleged racist comments. The fact that Liverpool used these incorrect accusations presented as fact to an FA panel who actually knew what happened on both these occasions - completely discredited the Liverpool defence. And for the conspiracy theorists, the Chelsea and Finnan cases are out there if you are prepared to look for facts as opposed to fuel the Liverpool chat forums.
End of my contribution and well done to the intelligent and cool heads at Liverpool who eventually saw fit to do the right thing and save the Club from embarrassment.
I have no allegiance to either Liverpool or Manchester United ( I'm a Leeds fan, for the record).
I just happen to believe that Mr Suarez may well have been wrongly found guilty of using racist language and therefore harshly punished when the other person involved walked Scott free. I believe the FA should have recognised Evra's part in the matter and punished him accordingly.
And where did Liverpool attack Evra, which in your words 'failed so miserably'. The silly little idiot ( to use your language) admitted starting the confrontation by abusing/insulting Suarez's sister and threatening to punch him. Of course you don't want to admit the fact as it may not sit comfortably alongside the fact you have obviously made up your mind that Suarez is racist.
Maybe there are others on here with more open minds than you.
Quietly to bed?
Hmm to me that looks more like a one finger up at the FA from Liverpool and quite right too its been a load of over hyped rubbish. Obviously decided the appeal is not worth the effort but at the same time in no way conceeded the argument.
