Eight-match ban for Suarez’ racial slur

Liverpool Football Club’s star striker Luis Suarez has been banned for eight matches after being found guilty by the English Football Association of racially abusing a rival player. The incident occurred during Liverpool’s Premier League match against fierce local rivals Manchester United at Anfield in October.

United defender Patrice Evra. a Senegal-born French international had lodged an official complaint immediately after the game. Evra told French television “There are cameras, you can see [Suarez] say a certain word to me at least 10 times.” Suarez denied the charges of racial abuse, and told media in his native Uruguay he had called him “something his team-mates at Manchester call him.”

His club, Liverpool, have appealed the ban and maintain their player is innocent. In a statement the club said “We find it extraordinary that Luis can be found guilty on the word of Patrice Evra alone. No-one else on the field of play – including Evra’s own Manchester United teammates and all the match officials – heard the alleged conversation between the two players in a crowded Kop goalmouth.” The statement added: “Evra admitted himself in his evidence to insulting Luis Suarez in Spanish in the most objectionable of terms.”

Suarez was also fined £40,000 (nearly 48,000 euros). The eight-match penalty is one of the heaviest ever handed down by the English FA. The 24-year-old Tweeted: “Today is a very difficult and painful day for me and my family. Thanks for all the support.”

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