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Liverpool will not appeal Suarez ban

Comment: 0 January 4th, 2012 by: admin

LIVERPOOL officially announced Tuesday that they will not be appealing the 8-match ban set upon striker Luis Suarez by the FA for allegedly throwing racial slurs at Manchester United’s Patrice Evra.

This decision puts Suarez out for 5 Premier League matches, and one FA Cup match, and both legs of the Carling Cup against Manchester City.

The first of the EPL matches without Suarez was also against hosting City, a match that ended with a 3-0 Liverpool drubbing.

The announcement was confirmed by a statement by the FA.

‘Suarez will be suspended with immediate effect for a period of eight matches, starting with this evening’s fixture against Manchester City,’ said the FA statement publicised earlier last Tuesday.

An attempt by Liverpool to appeal the ban, about which the independent regulatory commission had produced a 115-page report, could risk extending Suarez’s ban by one more match.

But although the Reds have decided to let the issue rest, they declared that they remained supportive of Suarez, but chose to move forward for the greater good.

‘In its determination to prove its conclusions, the FA Panel has damaged the reputation of one of the Premier League’s best players,’ said Liverpool.

‘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,’ continued the statement,’ that we will not appeal the eight-game suspension of Luis Suarez.’

The issue first came to life as Patrice Evra accused Suarez of calling him ‘negro’ during a match at Anfield.  Controversy grew as Suarez insisted that his words were taken out of context, and that the FA, according to Liverpool, were sentencing him without any evidence other than Evra’s statements.

‘I am very upset by the things said about me, all very far from the truth,’ Suarez said.  ‘In my country, “negro” is a word which doesn’t show any lack of respect and is even less so a form of racist abuse.

‘I’ll carry out the suspension with the resignation of someone who has done nothing wrong.’

As for the over 100-page report, Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish said that it was incomplete and did not document the full extent of the story.

‘We know what is not in the report and that is important for us,’ he said.  ‘But without me getting myself in trouble, that is me finished.’

The club is now battling against the possibility of Suarez being pushed out of the English league unless the FA provide him with protection from backlash after the Evra issue.

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