MORE “RACIST” TROUBLE
Liverpool in more trouble on the subject of racism, and the press and the media are enjoying this as they dig their claws into Liverpool Football Club. Just a few days after the club announced that they would not be appealing against the ban on Suarez, we now have the euphoria from the national press this morning after a Liverpool supporter allegedly racially abused Oldham player Tom Adeyemi late in last night’s FA Cup tie at Anfield. It is the last thing the club needed after looking to put the Suarez case behind them.
The media have a way of highlighting these controversial issues more than the football, which actually turned out to be a terrific match. But the timing of such an incident is a major problem for Liverpool after being heavily criticised on their handling of the whole Suarez affair.
There is no place for racism in football and if this incident with a supporter is proved then I’m sure Liverpool Football Club will do the right thing to the individual. I fear Liverpool could receive another sanction from the FA if this supporter is found guilty and it doesn’t look very good for a great club like Liverpool to have their name dragged through the mud with this subject.
But it doesn’t matter how well and how great the results are on the park, mud sticks and this is going to be a difficult time for the club as they try to restore their reputation. The club are still deeply aggrieved by the decision to ban Suarez as they reluctantly accepted the ban imposed by the FA, but they have still showed their support for Suarez although he was found guilty, which has been condemned by many outsiders.
But now with this trouble from one of their own supporters it doesn’t look good on Liverpool. The club are pretty much helpless in a situation like this when one supporter out of a crowd of 40,000 plus has allegedly hurled abuse at a player. How is a club supposed to prevent this happening other than punishing the guilty party after investigation, which they will do. But the media will just blame Liverpool Football Club and label them “racists” as they thrive on stories like this. Obviously such a sensitive subject will be highlighted, but the criticism the club will have to deal with will be difficult in the coming weeks with every move scrutinised and commented on by the nation’s media.
I would love for us all to be reading about a great Liverpool performance this morning, but sadly football has been overshadowed once again.
written by Jamie McLaughlin website at www.anfieldnews.com
What makes you think it was a racial abuse,why are you feeding the trolls?
The Oldam RB Tom Adeyemi was booed in a first place after a harsh tackle on Flanagan,then he went for the throw-in after which a short exchange of allagedly harsh words took place with a fan. So far nobody knows what were the words btw the fan and Tom Adeyemi,so why are you piling pressure on us?
I was in the Kop. Let me get this crystal clear for everyone, the comment was “you manc bastard” NOT what the player thought he heard. The steward in front of me was told this by fans straight away if he didn’t already hear it correctly himself. This is a result of the Suarez ban. The FA has caused this. Everyone related to LFC must must must stick together at this time. The comment was NOT racist. Unbelievable times for football. YNWA
Your right their all going to bring up dirt one report has already said to men wearing saurez tea shirts
More excuses. Exactly why everybody is beginning to despise Liverpool FC. There’s always an excuse. Why don’t you wear a t-shirt for these fans or start a campaign?
Gtry man did you hear the remark personally or did you buy the sun and get your facts there? Why dont you wait for the investigation before talking through your star?
Liverpools soft stance on Suarez is the only reason this is a story in every media across Europe
holt of the daily mirror has already begun his anti liverpool shit before it has been proven there was a racist remark
You’re missing the point. Liverpool had a chance to take a stand against racism. By moaning that the independent panel got the Suarez verdict wrong (despite a 100 page+ document of detailed evidence proving Suarez was guilty of racial abuse) the club is now seen by many to have legitimised racism.
It is no wonder some idiots will see this as a license to act in a racist manner as well.
I’m frankly fed up of the club’s victim mentality as well.
Listen you Liverpool haters, by no way Suarez has been found guilty for a “racist crime” as it is referred to by the Crime and Disorder Act 1998.
All in all it was an ambiguous process which came out with a political gesture that convicted Suarez for a “crime” he didn’t commit, otherwise said had he been found a real racist both the FA and Evra would’ve been under mandatory to bring the case to a criminal court in a first place. But both the FA and Evra said Suarez isn’t a racist. Unfortunately, I’d say…
They stated such a thing on a purpose to escape their obligation to bear their accusation with clear and strong evidence based on a proof “beyond the reasonable doubt” as require you the proceedings in a criminal court instead of that lower standard used by the FA and called “balance of probability” used only in civil matter.
But I guess all this scenario of a shameful conviction was on its way from the start since the government and the FA were eager to find any culprit on a market place and make of him an example on the eve of the Olympic games 2012, as if there have never been other cases of blatant racism far worse than the current one in the recent past. All of a sudden the evil lies in Liverpool and only in Liverpool, doesn’t it?
As a matter of fact the FA was very cautious not to label Suarez as a” racist” given his roots and lineage, and as well given the fact his alleged misbehavior has no similar proven misconducts prior to the current case. So if you tell me Suarez is a man of temper, I’d say yes but a racist!? I would disagree.
At the end of the day Suarez doesn’t belong to any organization that makes of racism a political or ideological agenda. He has never participated nor attended any meeting involving people committed to racism. He has never written anything racist nor did he give any public support to racist organizations. On the contrary of that, he has many times committed himself into charities related to anti-racism activities.
All in all it was a fierce exchange of harsh words between two competitors who were under high pressure and if the bashers had ever played football on a real pitch they would’ve been aware that after only minutes of hard effort any player would lose a bit of his mind in one way or another.
There’s a scientific explanation to that, beyond 100 heartbeats/min your brain can’t sustain an everlasting effort at this rate without seeing your judgment being clouded, not to mention what can happen to you if you are compared to the highly trained professionals whose heartbeats are at an incredible rate of 160-180/min when they sustain their effort for long spells during a game.
That’s why we pay fat salaries for the star players, those who don’t rely only on their skills but also on their reflexes or instinctive reaction when put under high pressure.
But what hurts me in this case is the way the FA handled it. Yea, the so called “court” of the FA ended up considering Evra as a “credible witness” instead of a plaintiff. The latter even benefited from a complacent description as well. According to the report, he gave his evidence in a “calm, composed and clear way”, whereas on the contrary of that Suarez isn’t described as a defendant but only as an unreliable witness!?
Bottom line, it was only one side of the story, and despite the fact findings say that Evra admitted that he begun the exchange with Suarez by referring to the Uruguayan’s sister anatomy using harsh words in Spanish, guess what happened, he just got away with it, it stinks…
Suarez’s defense was that he had been called “South American” in a derogatory way by Evra. But the commission added: “We found that Mr Evra did not use the words ‘South American’ when speaking to Mr Suarez.” How do these freaks would know?
Moreover, the initial ban according to the rules should’ve been two games that could’ve been extended to four at will by any commission but 08 games!? Come on, this is a ban from living in England not from playing football.
In their statement the FA were pretty clear about their intentions I quote”Suarez has damaged the image of English football around the world”. Wow, it sounds like a daylight conspiracy to stop our rebuilding process and consequently they’re forcing our hands to get rid of Suarez…
As a matter of fact it is the FA that damaged the image of football on one hand and justice and fairness on the other hand.
Sorry, but in UK racism is treated as a crime according to the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 which makes hateful behaviour towards a victim based on the victim’s membership (or presumed membership) in a racial group or a religious group an aggravation in sentencing for specified crimes. Of course a “racial group” is a group of persons defined by reference to race, colour, nationality (including citizenship) or ethnic or national origins.
That’s why you need a strong evidence “beyond reasonable doubt” to win your case instead of the “balance of probabilities” used in civil matter.
Moreover, the Criminal Justice Act 2003 requires a court to consider whether a crime which is not specified by the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 is racially or religiously aggravated.
And here lies the trickery of the century… in order to make of their case a civil matter the FA worked hard the angle to engineer a conviction in which they stated Suarez is not racist. Pretty smart from them, this was the best way to fashion a conviction not based on the proof “beyond reasonable doubt”. Since Suarez isn’t a racist he consequently can’t be considered as a “crime perpetrator” can he. Hence there’s a little room left to make an appeal. Perfectly managed into the small details by the FA I would say…
But in that case tell me please, if it is just an issue that has nothing to do with ethnicity and race ( no crime issue involved here) but only an exchange of insults (misconduct) why then the FA did not punish Evra evenly for the same level of harshness since he was the starter of this mess. There’s too much ambiguity here…
Finally it shows you how far the FA had gone and how disrespectful they were with Suarez, Liverpool FC and their fans in one hand and the due process of law on the other hand…
However in spite of all this dirty process that led to a shameful conviction, I would’ve asked Suarez not to appeal but only if the other cases of racism are unearthed and the authors are punished regardless of the time and date they took place. I would begin by the recent cases Terry-Ferdinand) for instance, no double standards could be tolerated here.
Let me remind the FA board and all Liverpool haters that Ferdinand has said nothing harsh to deserve Terry’s racist posture on the contrary of Evra who caused a great deal of embarrassment to everyone related to this case after he admitted he used harsh words about Suarez’s sister anatomy in Spanish to get into Suarez’s mind…
So what I’m asking for is to handle this sensitive issue with the due process of law and not this travesty of justice where one side is held into account whilst the other one is spared unfairly despite the fact it’s the one who started this messy situation in a first place.
Ultimately the best way to handle this case would’ve been to bring it to the high courts imho, and I can’t help it but the FA must be charged down the process for defamation and biased judgment.
Am I the only one who’s sick and tired of “LFC Statements” about misbehaviour, racism and whatnot. I hope to heck that the next “LFC Statement” I see on the website be about us signing a striker. Those are the only statements that matter to me from this moment on.
–Delixu
I do not think Liverpool club or the fans are racists.
The problem is the poor handling of the Suarez issue. Do not blame fans all over the world if there is a perception of racism.
The basic problem is that a large proportion of the general population is foull mouthed, inconsiderate and uncouth.
The word “bastard” is offensive whether it is preceded by the words “manc” or “black”.
The insult is indicative of the lack of civility amongst illmmannered persons across the general society. Uk used to be renowned for civility but that is noy the case these days.
No it certainly is not the case, but you need to understand this is not a case about “civility”. This is a racial aggravated case and the point you are making has no relevance to the issue. If you want to bring up “civility” I suggest you go somewhere else to find it other than the world of football because “bastard”, “manc” etc are used in football banter UK wide and probably even beyond. Fans make football half of what it is, you cannot start to make a case against fans for being all the things you describe them as. You don’t have a case and if you do, football is dead.
Liverpool’s mishandling of the Suarez issue, the cult of ‘victimhood ‘ that is enshrined at Anfield and encouraged by the likes of Dalglish , the tribal paranoia of Liverpool fans are all damaging the reputation of LFC. What amazes me is how sane, rational Liverpool fans are unable to see how ridiculous LFC now appears to the outside world .You may think you don’t care and revel in the ‘Us against the rest of the world’ tag for a while at least. But no one likes to be subject to ridicule and disdain. Stop with the conspiracy theories, accept what Suarez did was wrong, accept their was an investigation , accept the whole Suarez t shirt issue was a mistake , stop blaming Man United and then you can move on AND FOCUS ON THE FOOTBALL. It is the denials, excuses and all the rest that is making the story.
You are dead wrong if you think this case hasn’t been mismanaged by the FA.In any ongoing “judicial process” no side has the right to speak to the Media until the investigation is done at the deepest roots of the issue.
So why did the FA let Evra make an interview with Canal+ after he became an official plaintiff? And we all know how all of a sudden any body can be submitted to a media lynching prior to any real conviction.