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Liverpool sponsor slams Suarez

Comment: 0 February 14th, 2012 by: admin

Liverpool’s shirt sponsor criticised Luis Suarez’s controversial snub of Manchester United’s Patrice Evra during the Respect Parade in their match last Saturday at Old Trafford.

Standard Chartered, a multinational bank that provides near-£20 million per season to the club, issued a brief statement indicating their disapproval over the striker’s behaviour.

“We were very disappointed by Saturday’s incident and have discussed our concerns with the club,” announced a representative.

Reports quoting an unnamed source described the meeting as “a very robust conversation.”

A representative for the club was said to have refused to comment on the matter.

Since the incident at Old Trafford, the striker, who was placed under intense public scrutiny, has issued a public apology.  The harsh comments, however, continued to come.

According to the BBC, another major criticism aimed at the club came directly from its owners Fenway Sports Group.

The US-based corporation, who also owns the Major League Baseball squad the Boston Red Sox, reportedly contributed to the public apologies issued by Suarez, and manager Kenny Dalglish.

Heavy attention is centred on the Uruguayan striker evidently skipping Evra during the pre-match handshake ritual, despite assurances from the club that he would engage in the sportsmanly gesture.

Much anticipation was put on the two players’ encounter during the Parade, what with Suarez just recently coming out of an eight-match ban due to Evra’s accusations of racial abuse.

To this day, Suarez and his club remain adamant about his innocence.

On the days leading up to the match, the FA ordered for the Respect Parade to commence in spite of the brewing tension between the two squads.

Its decision also came despite its call to suspend the ritual during the match between Chelsea and QPR, which pitted against each other John Terry and Anton Ferdinand, who were also embroiled in racism-related issues.

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