Suarez’s Old Friends Show His New Employers What Loyalty Means

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After a week in which Luis Suarez was left to walk alone by the power base of his current club, it was some old friends who showed the unreserved loyalty and support that he should have got from Fenway Sports Group and the Liverpool FC board.

The day started with Suarez’s Uruguay captain, Diego Lugano, claiming he “did not deserve” the criticism levelled at him throughout the past few months. Speaking with a level headed self-assurance, Lugano said “He has gone through a few months he did not deserve. He followed his principles. We live in a democracy and if you do not want to greet someone, do not greet them – and less so if that person has made you experience bad moments. It’s a football argument and many false moralists and hypocrites have profited, and Luis is the only innocent party.”

This statement was followed up by Uruguay President Jose Mujica, who underlined that there is “solidarity with Suarez” throughout the country. In a direct reference to Evra’s privileged upbringing, Mujica said “He’s a child born from poverty who’s leagues away from having received academic training in diplomatic protocol.”

The next event in an extraordinary day of support for Suarez came in the game between his former club, Ajax, and Manchester United.  Before, during and after the game, the Ajax fans chanted Suarez’s name and even conducted a rendition of “We are not racist we only hate Mancs” in Dutch.

During his spell at Ajax, Suarez scored 81 goals in 110 games, was awarded the captaincy of the club at the age of 22 and joined the likes of Cruyff, van Basten and Bergkamp in their “100 Club”. His place as an Ajax legend is comfortably secured.

Following close behind the Ajax game was a match involving his first club, Nacional. Before the game, the players paraded a “Fuerza Luis” banner around the pitch to rapturous applause from all four corners of the ground.

In the crowd, there were lots of banners in support of Suarez, including two which read “Suarez is from Nacional so Evra must be from (hated rivals) Penerol” and “Wash your mouth out Ferguson before you speak of Sir Suarez”

Suarez will always be a hero in Nacional. He joined as an 18 year old in 2005 and scored 10 goals in 21 appearances to fire them to the domestic title.

The support Suarez has received from around the world is in stark contrast to the way he has been treated by Liverpool. Ian Ayre, the Managing Director, has changed his mind on Suarez based on the views of people who he perceives to be more important than the players and fans of the club.

Speaking just a few weeks ago, Ayre said “We will support him and our fans will support him. We’ll work with him because he’s a great player and a great guy. He’ll get 100% support from Liverpool Football Club.”

This 100% support did not last long. One article from a minor shareholder in FSG (New York Times) and some inappropriate comments from Standard Chartered were enough to convince Ayre to turn against Suarez. In cutting remarks over the hand shake incident he said “We are extremely disappointed Luis Suarez did not shake hands with Patrice Evra”.

The forced apologies from Dalglish and Suarez which accompanied this statement from Ian Ayre showed clearly that the current hierarchy at LFC are prepared to put money over morals. Worryingly for Liverpool, it was another sign that they have one of the weakest MDs in the Premier League.

In the wake of the rebuke from those he should have been able to rely on for support, Suarez will have taken great comfort from the events at Ajax and Nacional. The incredible mark he has left on these clubs is clear to see. It underlines how fortunate Liverpool are to have him on their books. It also shows their terribly misplaced priorities over this affair.

Two continents spoke with one voice yesterday to ensure that Suarez will not walk alone. In doing so, they showed up the current Liverpool hierarchy as misguided, financially motivated capitalists.

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52 Comments

  1. Good points made by Lugano and orevious clubs supporters but really? Bit hysterical about the current mamangement at our place though eh?
    I’m 100% behind Luis and tbh I’m proud of the fact he stood up for himself but the club has to move on. I doubt hes been left as high or dry as you seem to be suggesting.
    Looking forward to him getting a great reception tomorrow and Gus Poyet will make a nice change as a non hysterical party in all this.

  2. I have supported Luis throughout this affair. Hell, I even defended him over the Ghana World Cup incident, long before he was a Liverpool player.

    But the handshake thing was a mistake, particularly if he had indeed misled people at the club before the match.

    It’s not a massive crime, and of course he still deserves our support, but it was a mistake, when he could have been the bigger man and taken any “moral” high ground away from MUFC…

    1. Luis is a nice guy but a mans word is all he has to back him, I’m from Montevideo and i lost a little bit of respect toward the man, hopefully he will do great things for the future of football and then we will see him as not only a star player but a good human…

      1. All this hysteria about what other people are doing and saying now suddenly reflecting bad on LFC and it’s owners is ludicrous and hopelessly counter productive. These are people who saved us from the idiotic Cowboys. They have said nothing but Luis has still been paid and looked after by the club. And supported. They don’t need to speak to prove that. What you also have to realise is that this being an issue of Racism, it’s important they everyone is careful what they say. This is clearly what got us here in the first place. The clubs rep is more important than the rep of an individual, as much as we all love Luis. So just as its all dying down as Tevez and Arsenal taking the headlines, to see LFCs own fans making these sort of statements and comparisons shows a distinct lack of intelligence.

  3. Completely agree, thank God the Kop will show Luis what true support is. FSG are a bunch of Yank money minded tw*ts.

  4. its a painful situation and for me i don’t think that it’s a must for someone to greet you expecially someone that made you to recieved such an embarassing punishment from their so call england fa,even though am still a strong fan of (LIVERPOOL FC)but am not happy with the way lfc board refused to appeal that case,but am stiil pleading for my good friend and a hero (LUIS SUAREZ) to put that behind him (suarez)an still contribute his 100% effort to the club and he (suarez)should know that there are majority of lfc fans all over the world that always going along with him in prayer,i always pray for his (suarez)success and his family.

  5. Totally agree with you, they collectively should have seen Dirty Nose’s tricks of divide & conquer school of thought.
    Suarez is not a racist as both Whiskey nose & his urine puddle know, those two plus the rest of their blinkered cart horse scum supporters & their beloved media ensured the matter was totally blown out of proportion ( which incidentally has had MAJOR negative impact on race relations )and KK to his credit stuck by his man as did our multi-racial squad.
    Indeed whilst it is great to see support from other parts of the world I personally an extremely disappointed with our senior management.
    A big thank you to all Ajax fans
    YNWA

  6. We must not let the lairs and cheats win on this. Ferguson and Man U have gone too far and many people can see beyond all the media lies and panto. Surez will never walk alone and hopefully the liars will be outed, not by the British Pantomime (Fergie) press though

  7. he was backed to the hilt by lfc to the point of ridicle for doing it, the others have nothing to lose. utter rubbish artical.

    1. Liverpool have put 118 years of history on the line being loyal to Suarez and Dalglish has put his footballing and personal reputation on the line being loyal to Suarez.Some fans need to look at the reputations it was beginning to damage being loyal to Suarez was beginning to take its toll.

  8. Do you want to see Liverpool in financial trouble again? If Standard Charter had pulled their funding do you think we would have got an other sponser willing to pay £20 million a season would Carlsberg and others follow suit? How long do you think the 16 investors in the FSG would be happy about the bad press would anyone want to buy a company that is perceived has racist even if their was a fan buy out you still need the sponsership money . The fall out from this is more then just about being loyal to Suarez! Who in the end GAVE HIS WORD that he would shake Evra’s hand and if he had he would not had to make an apology which Evra and United have been after from the start which Suarez has now done and United have accepted it has a Liverpool climbdown. He should have told Liverpool he wasn’t prepared to do it then he could have been a sub and wait till next season for the hand shake.

  9. Hope Suarez will come out of this sorrow ordeal much stronger. It’s unfortunate that it happened because I know he is not a racist, Evra knows he s not a racist, Ferguson knows he is not a racist, and above all his fans, friends, and family know he is not racist. Suarez stand tall the truth always wins!!!!
    Hope to see you play on the 19th and 26th your chance to show the world the true genius you are on the field of play.
    YNWA.

  10. The reason Ian Ayre made his comments were simple LS told KK that he would shake Evra’s hand but did not. This made KK & Liverpool FC look foolish.

    While I have had many arguments backing LS he got it wrong this time. He should have said from the beginning (like Anton Ferdinand did about John Terry)that he could not shake Evra’s hand.

    At least it would have been out in the open and it would have put the spotlight back on the FA to cancel the handshake as they did at the QPR – Chelsea game.

    The FA were hoping that LS would not shake hands as it put further emphasis on him and strengthed there case.

    LS deserved his slating from LFC as he let them down.

  11. suarez,did not work alone he still has d support of fans. Fearfull SUAREZ, please prove ur worth on 19 and 26 let ur football do the taking.YNWA

  12. suarez is a professional which i believe as got a better plan to prove his critics wrong by winning the carling cup,f.a cup also gualifying lfc for champions league spot.leaving the club will be a gretest mistake ynwa

  13. It’s time to be clear that racism is never acceptable. Suarez, while an excellent player, is a loose cannon. The club being soft on him now is inviting further problems in the future. Liverpool need to be much harder on him now and make it clear what is acceptable and what is not. Liverpool has a great reputation around the world and that is much more important than Luis Suarez.This article is either written by a racist or somebody who will never accept criticism of his club, both are forms of ignorance.

    1. So refusing to accept that inconsistent, uncorroborated and unreliable hearsay evidence is sufficient to convict someone of a serious accusation is racist is it?

      While I believe that Luis should have shook Evra’s hand, if for no other reason than expediency, to disagree is not racist either.

      This attitude that any kind of dissent on the issue must be racist is deliberately disingenuous muck raking.

  14. The silence was deafening (especially from the Uruguay consulate and govt) whilst he faced these charges. Bit pointless to come out now and defend him? His teammates like Lugano have always supported him as have people like Poyet. We need to draw a line under this whole farce and move on. No one individual is bigger than the club.

    1. The Uruguay goverment have been behind Suarez all the time and have made statements how they support Suarez and offered him legal backing through the Uruguayan Embassy.

  15. I fully support Suarez but if he lied or misled Kenny about the handshake then he deserves the criticism he has received. It was embarassing watching Kenny live on TV supporting Suarez only to be told “No Kenny he didn’t shake his hand”. No player/manager is bigger than the club, not now, not then, not ever.

  16. Kenny should have said the club left the handshake decision to Suarez. It was the cowing down to pre PC media that was an error, that there would be a handshake. Suarez alone knows the truth of the accusation and the racist intent. Suarez should never have had to apologise if he believes himself innocent no matter who says he should. It’s his belief in himself that makes him a great player. Backing him to the extreme, then chickening out when it get tough, this is what makes the club, particlarly management, look foolish.

  17. What a load of crap this is….the club to this day has backed Luis Suarez amazingly well, even after his ban was over Kenny was saying he never should have been banned in the first place. Once the FA took the decision to find Luis guilty, with their 99.5% conviction rate it was NEVER going to be overturned. What upset the club was Luis Suarez saying he would shake hands and then not doing so. Had he said frothe beginning he wasn’t going to do it the club would probably have not started him, instead the club is put in a bad situation and Suarez comes across looking like a liar… It would help if you tried to apply some logic to your articles..in fact wait it would be better, based on this evidence if you never published your articles…..what a load of crap…

  18. Well said Scrooge. Fenway no better than H&G (and considering they got the club for a knockdown price and had the money from the sales of Torres, Merieles and various squad players have only had a net spend @ £30m) have yet to convince me and others they are there to invest in the club long term.

    Fook SC too if they’re worried about anyone who’s fooled into believing any of this is about race. Our worldwide fan base (of all races) know it’s not. SC should have used their pressure to ensure the club DID appeal and then shown up the FA as the pious, posturing bandstanders that they are in a PROPER court outside their jurisdiction (and Man U’s too).

    1. Are you for real. Fenway no better than H&G? Seriously? In the transfer market, Kenny has got any player he wants. We have no bank debts to speak of. They haven’t filled the media with false promises. And we aren’t a month away from liquidation. You should be embarrassed to have made such a ridiculously false statement.

  19. I am Uruguayan and I lived in the UK for about four years (1995-1999), so I am very interested in English football. Day after day my anger grows seeing how Luis is being treated by the FA, the British media, ManU and especially Mr. Alex Ferguson who even dared to suggest Luis must be expelled from British football. What upset me most is the hypocrisy behind all this fuzz. It is wrong to convert a mere sports issue in a pseudo moral crusade. I wonder, is it wrong not to shake hands with a guy one dislikes? The entire problem was that Luis did not shake hands with the ManU guy? The guy that first hid his hand, the same guy that behaved so outrageously and clearly provoked Luis after the match ended… the guy that harmed him so badly when this sad story started. Ferguson did not talk about that, as he did not talk about Cantona wild kick against the Crystal Palace fan, or about Ferdinand refusal to accept a drug test or about Rooney troubles or about the Terry issues. He neither talked about other numerous incidents in which different players refused to shake hands in English matches, the list is long. Actually, he did not say anything about Ferdinand refusal to shake hands with Luis. And he dared to say that Luis must be pulled out of British football! As the Uruguayan President said, Luis is not an expert in protocol. He is just an honest temperamental young player that loves football and that knows the meaning of hard work since he was not born in a wealthy home at all. He does not deserve to live such a painful time. All my support for Luis and Liverpool people.

  20. Very simple, we should have not started the game to avoid the hand-shake protocol, which was calling all the attention during the event. I don’t know if that’s LFC fault or Kenny Daglish, but the decision was left alone to him, all the pressure to him. That’s not the way you support your employee.
    Very disappointing backing procedure all along, since the beginning.

  21. Suarez was not abandoned by LFC. They backed him fully. They didn’t say he was racist but just said he was wrong not to shake hands after he’d told them he would.

    They heard his views on the handshake incident and it was agreed beforehand what would happened.

    Suarez changed his mind at the last minute, and is entitled to do that, but he had made a clear agreement with those who supported him what he would do.

    They were not aware and King Kenny and was put in an untenable position after he had stated Suarez would shake Evra’s hand. The baying packs of hounds (the press) had a field day on a man who is dignified and loyal to the core.

    Suarez didn’t think about the consequences of his action and our most important person in the club KK was left hanging out to dry.

    This is what hurt the club and supporters. I don’t care about the sponsors.

    I love Suarez. I have his no 7 shirt and name and wear it with pride but he made mistake and anyone can do this. I can live with this but he has to repay Kenny.

    Kenny is the club at the moment but he knows his place as King and is humble in his understanding of what it is to represent the club that is why he apologised. How some of us felt for this great guy who was put in this impossible situation. He didn’t need to but he did to protect Suarez instead of slaughter him for changing his mind.

    I’m pleased at the support from many clubs and individuals around the world against the ‘vitrol’ of Slur Ferg and Man U manipulation of the situation.

    Suarez needs to know who his friends are and the club has backed him. This article is great up to this point. I didn’t know Ajax supported Suarez in the game against Man U. Thanks Ajax and Nacional. You have my respect for seeing the man and not the shit that has been flung at him.

    see little difference between Suarez and Tevez’s treatment, and like Tevez’ our No 7 has stayed true to his beliefs.

    Por favor Suarez 3 gols na final.

  22. The truth will come out in the end. Suarez was the real victim in this, the FA went for him because he was the perfect fall guy, He wasn’t English, he wasn’t White, he obviously didn’t play for England, he was at the time not liked by the general public. It was a total stitch up, and the press was in on it from the start. I can only hope that he stays with Liverpool, but who could blame him if wanted out of English Football.

  23. We love Saurez. Enemies made him sufferer of Circumstance and he is walking alone in the liverpool, dejected, defeated and demoralized.

  24. You will be hard pressed to find a single Liverpool fan who is not behind Suarez 100%. Yes, Luis made a mistake in not shaking Evra’s hand, giving Alex Ferguson and the press the opportunity to have a field day at our expense. At the same time, the vast majority of Liverpool fans – and anyone with a decent knowledge of Southern Cone Spanish – believe Suarez intended no racial slur towards Evra. YNWA Luis Suárez.

  25. im from lebanon.
    a man is free to shake hands or not, afterall what kind of morals are we teaching? that you should be fake and claim respect to a man not worthy a spit.

    we support our hero luis for better or worse. i dont expect saints and hypocrits in liverpool. i expect men with true feelings and who are not afraid to express their thoughts.

  26. It was not just Suarez who has taken flack but Kuyt, Commoli, the club itself and all the fans who have supported Suarez. The FA inferred the club colluded and lied about the incident, fabricated evidence and were dishonest. The media, especially the main stream press, on block, took a one sided argument, often ignoring or closing any forum posts and barely questioning the report. Every opportunity was chosen to make the fans look racist, while at the same time there were incidences in MU stands that were virtually ignored. Every fan bearing a grudge, even fans from our own city, jumped on the bandwagon, little realising it gave free reign to condemn Liverpool people in general as racist. Any view or suport of Suarez, asking questions of cultural misunderstandings, must also be a racist, deluded or ‘a thick Irish scouser’, forum quote. The only person able to make a comment that would be vaguely listened to was Barnsy and the media found ways to insult him as well by allowing abusive forum messages.
    All over a couple of claimed Spanish words no one else heard and if you believe Suarez, had no racially abusive intent. Yet some want to forget about this and shake hands. What a joke.
    No way Hose! not for me.

  27. It would appear the writer of this article has been biased by other media outlets, in believing that the hierarchy at Liverpool have somehow changed their minds on Luis.

    Seriously? Are you a fly on the wall?

    Its all paper talk, conjecture – you are a joke. Call yourself a fan? Give me a break. You’re no more scouse than I am bloody Irish!

    1. so u think are club were behind suarez,first of all there were 5 things let go in the fa report by the legal team at the start ant solicitor fighting this case would not of let these points go,if u read it u will no what points i mean,but to make fans believe u are behind him u have to go through the motions and i believe thats what we done,then when many briefs said they could rip the fa report apart we never, they done as little as possible to stop the fans turning on them,dont live in a world were you think they care about suarez they only think in money terms and dont want a long fight that may cost them in the long run.

  28. In England, employees must shake hands when employers tell them to … and if you refuse, you must apologize … after all, what’s worse than making the club look bad.

    I am glad I live in the US.

    PS: I love Luis Suarez, and I now hate John Henry with a passion.

  29. Alex “the devil incarnate” was out to get him when he made his defenders looked like they had rubber for legs in his first game for us where he single handedly tormented manure and the Cheif Devil himself. It’s that simple, to rip him apart and tear him away from his most hated rivals. There was an agenda and the FA are his henchmen. Why else would such a high profile case had an old pal of The Devil’s Chief on the so called independent panel? I sincerely hope that Liverpool is gathering evidence of mishandling of the case by the FA and that the club inputting up a false front. Wishful thinking, but still hoping.

  30. Really!! Let it go, he has only scored a few goals this season. Belemy has scored 8 and cost nothing. The last time belamy was at the club he was hounded out for trying to smack a fellow player with a golf club. Yet you are in total support of a vile violent man found guily of racism by a group of people far more informed and knowledgable than anyone on this board

    Its all a conspiricy, poor Luis, poor Kenny blah blah makes me sick blah blah the world and fa are in fergies back pocket blah blah 18 titles blah blah – grow up, you was good 22 years ago, now you are a top half team dining out on getting to the worthless cup final!

    1. As a stinking manure fan you know you are in decline, get used to it, BLUE is the colour in Manchester now, you are now the same as Everton to LFC, irritating & you know it, enjoy your THURSDAY evening matches in a MM Cup which the Blues will put another 6 past you again.
      Ps ; learn how to spell, f off back to your own Republik of Manure site, watch Liverpool lift the cup on 26th February and & join your manger in having a heart attack

      1. That has to be the funniest come back I have ever read!!

        I am not a man utd fan but if I was I can tell you that I really wouldnt lose any sleep watching liverpool play against a championship team in the league cup final.

        Also utd will probably win the uefa cup – something you could try to emulate next season whilst they play in the CL again – fool.

  31. “! We live in a democracy and if you do not want to greet someone, do not greet them – and less so if that person has made you experience bad moments. It’s a football argument and many false moralists and hypocrites have profited, and Luis is the only innocent party.” says it all

  32. Enjoyed the article but to say the club have left him high and dry is absolute rubbish. If I had been told by my player that he would shake his hand then I would be furious when he didn’t. If he didn’t want to he could have told the club beforehand and they may have been able to cut the pre-match handshake ( which is complete crap anyway)!

  33. Can you not see how Liverpool did Suarez a favour by disciplining him over the handshake?

    Perception is the club were defending the indefensible over the Evra case. They weren’t. But to defend him over the handshake would have been.

    To discipline Luis over the handshake suggests the club would have disciplined him too over the Evra case – if they thought he was guilty.

  34. The English have mislead the issue of Suarez-Evra.The fact that there is no evidence speaks volumes.And John Terry because he is english is given the freedom to try and defend himself without being banned from playing.they can take the armband from him because he is finished,it was not because he was racist.Did you see the errors he did against Liverpool in a league game and against other teams?At the end of the day,The English are not God and you will always expect a human being to be self-centered.

  35. Utterly rubbish piece ,Suarez got a bollicking for lying to the club not for any previous issues. He could have said from the off there was no way he was gonna shake Evras hand. As for implying we don’t back himyou are having a laugh. Suarez could actually do with repaying the support , this week will be a good start. YNWA

  36. Luis did not deny what he said – he told the people who asked him because in his eyes, his countrymen and anybody who did not want to score points on the colour issue, he did not say anything wrong.
    we handled it poorly by leeting K.D. and comolli get involved when the word ‘n******r was supposed to be the accusation, we let Luis down – whoever made the decision not to appeal because the f.a. had no legal case as soon as both they and Evra said he was not a mixed race racist.
    When he did not insist on Evra shaking the hand that was not ‘there’ to be shaken, the club allowed the media to poor vitroil all over him and then made him apologise. HE DID NOT REFUSE TO SHAKE HANDS – ask yourselves why there is STILL no report at the f.a. from Phil Dowd…it is because he saw clearly that Suarez did not deviate/avoid Evra’s hand but the Manchester number 3 definitely dropped his!

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