Patrice Evra Accuses Luis Suarez of Racial Abuse

It's sad that a few Liverpool supporters are so utterly racist and bigoted, that they'd back a piece of shit like Saurez, rather than being human beings.'

If the ref had heard it then he would have sent Suarez off. Evra is an absolute disgrace and should be banned.

If he did or did not use racial slurs is for the FA to decide.. Now, I think that if the referee had heard it it would have been mentioned in the report or likely resulted in a caution.  (USB)  What I'm not surprised by is that whiskey nose 'escorted' Evra to the refs office to discuss this.  If he did, he's banned etc.  Likely evra felt Suarez purposely kicked him in the knee and was still pissed about it. 

As you say Noel I too am at loss to find any substance to Evra's allegation, especially with the television cameras, officials, players and the watching fans all in earshot of the alleged incident. I hate to be the one to say that Evra is well known for playing the 'race card' but....Evra is well known for playing the race card. To make such an allegation against a fellow professional despite the rivalry is a deplorable act of the lowest order. Suarez may not be a boy scout but I doubt he is a neo-Nazi facist either. And to slanderously deface someone in the public arena of the media is grounds for libel.

As for the press, they can't wait to jump all over this story. So they try to bring up Suarez' past. His 'past' lets anylayse that for a second shall we? His past demeanours to my knowledge consist of him planting his choppers into an opposing player and committing a handball on the line in a World Cup. His 'past' to my knowledge doesn't constitute him to have made any racist comments. Its not like he was a former member of the Klu Klux Klan and is know trying to go straight by plying his trade as a professional footballer.

If no evidence is found of any wrongdoing by Suarez, Evra should face a ban and a fine. On the flip side however, has Evra's actions seemingly set an alarmingly precsedant whereby a young black player now thinks that if no evidence is found to substantiate his claim of legitimate racism. He may be in trouble for making the allegation in the first place.

Evra has opened up a can of worms with his comments and it could potentially have affected the future of the game as we know it.

Like Ed said, if he didn't want to make a big thing of it why go to the press?   Even if he has a legitimate complaint this smacks of trying to destroy the reputation of another prefessional.  

Pretty despicable and its got SAF's arrogant hands all over it.

This is so distasteful and unpleasant to all right-thinking people regardless of allegiance.There is NO edifying outcome here. Like all LFC fans i hope to find out definitively that Luis is blameless. Thanks to Noel for presenting the issue in a dignified and balanced fashion and hats off to all those who contributed in a similar vein. Let's await the emergence of the facts and hope for a vindication of a man we've all grown to admire.

That's about the height of it mate...

Lifted directly from wikipedia.

"... However, in Spanish-speaking countries such as Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay where there are few people of African origin and appearance, negro (negra for females) is commonly used to refer to partners, close friends[13] or people in general independent of skin color. In Venezuela the word negro is similarly used, despite its large African descent population." Wiki goes on to say that it's used by people in these countries as slang for 'pal' or 'buddy'. 
And we all know that wikipedia is actually quite reliable. (no sarcasm intended, really.)

Latin background here - this is true

thanks for the affirmation.

So maybe Suarez did say it after all, but with a totally different intention? I can totally imagine him trying to wind up Evra with comments like 'you can't stop me my friend' or 'let's see what you can do buddy' where he used the word as a substitute for 'friend' or 'buddy' or 'dude'. 

Of course, I'm now completely in the realm of hypothesis and maybe its just better to wait and learn the truth.
 

ditto to cheeky fellow - your premise is spot on, but I would add in the HUGE caveat that suarez and evra most likely weren't conversing in jest at that particular moment, and even though spanish speaking cultures use negro/a in endearing or general terms, in certain circumstances it can still be slanderous.  Now, this is just a guess, but i dont thnk evra and suarez are the best of mates and were talking about setting up a play date for the kids after the game...

I don't mean to be mean or racist or insensitive but I didn't realise Suarez knew enough English or French to accuse Evra of anything offensive that he would understand. Now I'm really curious to see what Suarez supposedly called Evra TEN TIMES

I would have gone with TWAT.  But that's just me.

Was wondering this myself. Fairly certain Suarez doesn't know enough French to call him anything in that, and his English (even profane English, which is likely first to develop) must be limited. Setting aside what Suarez could have said in Dutch or Spanish (which Evra doesn't speak, no?), what was it that Suarez supposedly called him? With the Busquets/Marcelo incident we knew that the word in question was 'mono,' but here even the supposed slur hasn't come out, has it?

Goes without saying, but credit first to Noel for handling the issue with such intelligence and care, and all of you for having a discussion that's been remarkably well articulated on all sides.

I'm not gonna bother so much about what happens. In a current day setting, for any person to opt to air their opinions that border on a racist platform is unacceptable and deserving of any consequence that follows no matter which side they hold allegiance to. 

However, looking at current developments it would seem that if those comments were actually made as clearly as Evra had stated then substantial evidence must've been found by now. A misunderstanding cannot be ruled out as well. Neither should Suarez's past actions lay a road for systematic character assassination by opposing fans. 

If this matter ends up being a clear fault on either party, then a relevant punishment must ensue. It could end up just being a misunderstanding and a clash of languages which were misinterpreted but if it wasn't, then a clear fault must be established and the guilty party will have to face the music irregardless of their allegiance. 

Suarez is one of the fiercest competitors I know and he will do almost anything to get inside an opposition player's head.  So, if evidence comes out that he was trying to be racist, I wouldn't doubt it.  However, I have to believe that Suarez is past that.  

One must take into consideration that Liverpool is one of the only teams that I know of with absolutely NO black players.  I'm not saying that this is the reason Suarez is racist IF he is, but I wonder if we had even one black player, would he have said something that could be considered even the slightest bit controversial?

However, considering all of the denying both Suarez and the club have done pertaining to this matter, I have to believe Suarez is innocent or not trying to be racist.  Suarez himself posted saying he was "disappointed by the acusations" (even spelling accusations wrong in his post!). LFC also said that they would like to see disciplinary actions against Evra if the allegations have no grounds.  Now, why would Liverpool say that if they were not very sure that Suarez is innocent?  I mean, we would look very silly if we called for Evra to be punished when in fact he was right and Suarez was being racist toward Evra.  

This is very messy stuff and it couldn't be cleaned up any quicker, regardless of the result of the matter. This is bad for everyone involved.

This feels like the "I'm not racist, I have a black friend" defense, but Glen Johnson is. Which doesn't really mean anything in the greater context of things, but you know, whatever.

Damn, Johnson's been out for so long I didn't even remember he was there!  

And it is  the "I'm not racist, I have a black friend" defense.  Except now it's even less of an argument than it already was since I forgot about Johnson.  Anyways, he took a picture with LeBron James a day before the Man Utd game, so he's definitely not racist :).

I saw the Lebron James stuff cited a few other places and shifted uncomfortably in my chair before actively avoiding a rant. 

Ugh, thank you. I've seen even respected journalists trot out the "he can't be racist, he has black teammates!" defense, which...sigh. I'd hope we could at least avoid THAT sort of faulty (not to mention insulting) logic.

Waht. Glen Johnson's black? 

I'm finding it very hard to say anything goofy because of the touchiness of this subject. There will be a less serious post tomorrow, right? We can have a Lucas bashing, with videos, for Sue's pleasure. 

Lucas bashing could be fun. Maybe we should try it. It would be new anyways. Except for Sue. Charlie complaining was a blast. Only one or two guys get annoyed and fight back. Noel straightens all that out, though. Carra baiting is a losing proposition now, since he kicked United's ass. Only Trev seems to get really pissed with that, anyways. I'm into SAF bashing, as you can see above. I'm just not happy with him convincing Evra to file those nasty accusations, with his devious ulterior motives. It's a little fun. Stanley Devastating bitchin might still be possible, since Kuyt didn't finish his chance. Pulis bashing is coming up, right? When is that Stoke match?

But, yea, this whole subject is a little heavy on the head and the heart.

Just a point i'd like us to consider...

What IF Suarez did say something BUT Evra didn't quite hear/understand what he said?

We've all been guilty of misunderstandings, i know i have on the pitch, loads of time  - "what did you say mate" next minute i'm sliding 30 yards into a tackle with my studs showing.

So, there is the distinct possibility that BOTH of the players are telling the truth, in that Evra *thinks* he heard Suarez say something racist and Suarez is convinced he's just been winding Evra up.

Having said that, agree totally with Noel's points IF Suarez said it then it needs to be dealt with strongly by the FA and the club [he's lied to them and us] and if it's proved to be false then Evra has some humble pie to eat, a full apology to make and at least some kind of attempt at an explanation as to why he accused Suarez.

I know it sounds very unlikely, but I heard someone say on another Liverpool blog that the word Evra is referring to is "negro".  Now, that is considered a racist word in most areas. However, in Uruguay, "negro" is actually a term that means close friends or companionship.  While this could have been the case and Suarez was saying "negro", even in Spanish that means black.  I have a feeling that if he did say this, it had a double meaning;I'll say you're my "friend" in my native country but that's also the color of your skin.  

While this may be a highly unlikely reason for this whole conundrum, it is a different way of looking at it, but I cannot say that I believe this story.

so many parallel universes....

Actually, I am not so sure 'negro' qualifies as out an out racism. Inappropriate and out of touch with current mores yes, but I would say a word which is still morphing from dubious to unacceptable. Of course my point is somewhat irrelevant as the actual, alleged, word is still unknown, and the actual evidence is what counts.

If only the FA would get its finger out in such circumstances we would be better off, regardless of the outcome.

Well calling someone a "negro" in Spanish probably is about like calling someone a "black" in English. It really shouldn't be the first word you jump to when trying to make friends with someone, but to be characterized as racist is a bit much.

...and evra and suarez aren't friends far as i know, and that wasnt a frienldy discussion.  u throw "negro" out in a heated exchange with a stranger, its usually naughty, even in spanish...

I watched this and don't see much.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...

I don't have much to say, other than we'll see what happens in a matter of days. But I don't see Suarez as the kind of man who would use words to insult an opponent, or get a point across. He'd use his actions and play the game. I believe he has more class than that.

I'm with you Kenny, Suarez is much more likely to use his actions rather than call anyone names

Let's not forget this is a player who makes a wonderful save at the WC and then celebrates like crazy after Ghana lose the penalty shoot-out and he also has a Mike Tyson reputation for ears? :) LOL

I hope you're right about having 'more class' - guess we'll just have to wait and see.

good to hear mate. I see it as He's here to play for his team and be part of the team. He is a team player, and I just don't think he'd put Liverpool in that kind of spot, by putting himself, as a Liverpool player, into the news like that, he doesn't want people to see him and Liverpool as that kind of team, needing to be racist and arrogant, using words and insults instead of skill to win. He knows what would happen. and biting people in the dutch league is a whole different story

lol, "biting people in the dutch league is a whole different story", had to laugh there.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...
related vid from your utube link, a Bellamy compilation.  Look at Gerrard's layoff while he's jumping a flying tackle.  

Is that the best pass you've ever seen?

Nope. Damn fine piece of assist-work, though.

Glad to have the two of them back, even if they're not quite at the level they used to be.

Would he emphatically deny it if it were true?  can't see it myself. 

On a more traditionally anti ManUre note, does anyone else thing Ferdinand is a seriously annoying whingeing git who thinks he has never committed a foul in his life and how can everyone not see it?

He looked seriously arrogant and unable to deal with much yesterday, yelling at the ref constantly. 

Nothing is more annoying about this situation than the fact that this could be solved in one to two hours of reviewing video and audio archived from the various news companies etc., a 45 minute sit down with the managers, players, referees, lawyers, and 20 minutes to get the verdict out to the press. Yet, We are still talking about it a day later...anything that has to be done with the media's involvement will take an inconceivable amount of time to accomplish. The longer it's out on the newstands/websites, the more it will be discussed, to the point that it will now be apart of both player's careers forever. No one would give two shits and a piss if they announced Suarez guilty or Evra guilty this morning. Now Suarez will hear about this FOREVRA. 

Also, Evra's reluctance to pinpoint a specific word is working against him. He doesn't have to say what the word was, but saying something like "He called me the n word" would go a long way in to finding video evidence, because we would be looking for Suarez's mouth to make a certain movement. Now, we're having to read his lips to find a naughty word, ANY naughty word. 

well i have seen only suarez's feet do all the talking on the pitch...and they dont do anything wrong.

i smell and ole fashioned lynchin' a brewin'...
as with most claims of this nature, even if Suarez is 100% innocent, he'll still pick up a bad name just for being accused...

here's to hoping that the claims are false (obviously) and that it can be proven beyond a shadow of a doubt...

judging by the way the Man Utd coaching staff acted last with the groundsman incident, we can expect at least 3 people from Utd to declare they all heard it...

Two of whom were in Manchester at the time....

Like deciding to say hello to a German Shepherd whilst being out of your mind drunk on a train platform in Amsterdam at 3am, wandering into this peach of a controversy is both ill-advised and unavoidable. Unless, of course, you've done it before and learned your lesson.

*runs finger across scar on forehead. walks out of room. quietly.*

It is difficult to imagine that Luis could have used a racial epithet more that 10 times during the match without anyone hearing it and reacting to it. Rio Ferdinand, Chris Smalling or Andre Mariner would almost certainly confront Suarez about it during the match. The referee should be particularly sensitive to it considering the campaign to stamp it out. I have read today that Degea and Kuyt did not hear any racist remarks during Suarez's and Evra's heated discussion during that corner where Evra was shown the yellow.

It is particularly upsetting that SAF accompanied Evra to complain to match referees of the supposed abuse. Would anyone believe that SAF's main motivation in reporting the incident to officials is not to harm Liverpool FC by either having Luis suspended for a significant period of time or by destroying his motivation through a formal and public investigation of highly embarrassing charges? Anytime there is a public "charge" of racism, the publicity alone is enough to seriously harm the reputation of the accused. SAF would be well aware of this. Our most important player formally investigated and publicly "charged" with racism by SAF right after one of the biggest games of the season. And to do it all in the guise of trying to eradicate morally repugnant behavior by our most important player. Way to go, SIR Alex.

It is intersting to see that Evra has a history of making allegations of racism only to have the charges dismissed or shown to be false. The newspaper story attached to the 2008 Chelsea case, describes the willingness of Man U. coaches to fabricate testimony to support these claims. We certainly know that Evra has a propensity of asking the referee to show a yellow card to fellow professionals. Talk about repugnant behavior. Unfortunately for Patrice, this behavior is actually caught on film and the disgust of the match announcers plainly articulated.

Of course, there is no place in the game for racism, false charges of racism or players asking for a yellow card be shown to other professionals. All of this type of conduct should be eliminated.

I have to say, I have no problem with SAF accompanying Evra to the referee's office. He's backing his player, much in the same way Liverpool backed Suarez when they informed the press of Suarez's denials. There's nothing unusual in SAF doing what he did, I think, and honestly--if it were the other way around, and Suarez were the one accusing a Utd player of racism, I'd want Dalglish to accompany him as well.

It should have been addressed privately between SAF, Kenny, Evra and Luis. It does no one any great favor to do this publicly. I would expect that Kenny would have approached SAF in private. It will give a black eye to all parties involved. The League, Evra, and SAF.

But that's on Evra, not necessarily on SAF. 

Evra was probably talked into making a formal complaint by SAF. Everything I know about Evra tells me he would have just let it die. (From the Chelsea incident to the French fiasco in South Africa.) My intuition tells me that SAF has ulterior motives. It's not about righting a wrong done to Evra. If the situation was reversed, I do not see KK making a public charge that could ruin the reputation of, say a Rooney.

I've got to say, that seems...overly paranoid to me. I'm not SAF's biggest fan by any means, but to suggest that he would deliberately talk a player into making unfounded accusations of racism is...a leap, to put it mildly. Besides, so far, United hasn't backed Evra's claims, at least not to the extent that LFC have backed Suarez's denials.

I also have to point out that, as of yet, Evra HASN'T made a formal complaint, at least not to the FA. Yes, he's talked about it publicly and to the referee, but the FA is approaching him on Monday to see if he wants to pursue the matter.

Of course I'm not suggesting that SAF would "deliberately talk a player into making unfounded accusations of racism". You are putting words in my mouth! I'm suggesting that SAF would have ulterior motives to pursue the incident publicly, when a much more intelligent approach would have been to pursue it privately behind closed doors.

You're absolutely free to believe what you like, but for me--that's still a stretch. I just don't see it as likely that SAF would get Evra to pursue this publicly, then when the story blows up, disappear so that Evra's facing the FA and the press on his own, which is what's happened so far. There's nothing to suggest Ferguson knew anything about Evra speaking to the press ahead of time--if he had, I suspect United would have had a statement prepared.

I get the feeling we just aren't going to agree on this matter, though.

Did SAF know he was going to make a statement to the referee? Did he encourage that? Of course he would not have wanted Patrice making statements to the press. Not until he knew if there was video evidence. Of course Kenny had to come right out and back Suarez. Our most important player is accused of devastating accusations. Kenny will accept his word that he didn't do it. There is no rush for Ferguson to come out and back Evra. He has nothing to lose from waiting to see how things develop. Ferguson's worst case is that there is no video evidence, and then he just says that the cameras did not capture it and that no one overheard it. But, yea, you're right, we're not going to agree on this issue.

Patrice Evra is a lying cheating unprofessional bastard like his manager.

very offensive but i like ur comment...

 Seriously? How the hell is this not offensive?

Eaaaasy fella.

I don't know what to think here. On one hand, I would hate to believe that anyone would be capable of stooping so low as to make false accusations of racism. I hate the idea of automatically assuming that when someone makes an accusation of racism, they're lying and shouldn't be believed without having rock-solid proof. Racism isn't the easiest thing in the world to prove, especially in football, where everyone seems to want to ignore it at times for convenience's sake. (I'm speaking generally here, not so specifically about English football, where the FA does have a better recent track record than in, say, Spain.)

And yet--is it wrong to point out the inconsistencies in Evra's story? He accuses Suarez of doing this more than 10 times, it's difficult to imagine that the cameras/microphones didn't pick it up even once. (Hell, Sergio Busquets called Marcelo a monkey ONCE during a Clasico and it was caught on camera. Not that UEFA did anything about it.) And I can't figure out what the deal is with the referee--did Evra bring it up during the match, as his claims suggest? If so, how the hell did Suarez not get at LEAST a yellow card, unless Marriner is so incompetent as to put Howard Webb and Ovrebo to shame?

I've seen some fans hoping that this is all one huge misunderstanding and neither player is guilty--I'm sorry, I don't see how that's possible. Either Suarez is guilty and, by denying it to the club, his manager, and to the public, a liar--or Evra's a liar who's doing his best to wreck Suarez's professional and personal reputation. There's really not much wiggle room here. Ugh.

And to think I thought the most controversial moment from the match would be the foul on Adam that led to the free kick. Ugh.
 

When talking to a friend earlier, I referred to this as a "conscience of a liberal" moment, where you need to square your politics with your emotional biases and either way you come out a loser. If Suarez is guilty, I'm going to feel sick about it. I love him as a player, but the idea that anyone associated with my beloved club can behave in such a reprehensible manner is unacceptable. 

But, like you said, the idea that anyone could maliciously make false accusations of racism...well, it's not exactly a better outcome, is it?

solid in.  difficult to put footballing loyalties aside, but on this type of thing, we owe it to ourselves to do exactly that.  what if the claim is true, but the estimate of "10 times" was overblown, that it was only "1 time" - wud that make this claim any more believable?  suarez is a street kid from a country with an extremely small afro demographic (wiki says 4%, so lets say 10%), and while i wud love to think he's above racism or bigotry its still very much up in the air right now, and I can say from personal experience that that part of the world (my own experience is chile, argentina - but uruguay is extremely close culturaly) can be overtly racist on its day.  Essentially, we can't rule anything out.  Judgements one way or the other are folly at this point.  Suarez kicked evra in the knee, evra got pissed and for the next 10 minutes they were jawwin back and forth - certainly not conclusive.  That being said, I find myself almost more interested in the result of this particular situation than I am in the outcome of a football game.  In this day and age, no one's gonna back a racist, no matter what colors they wear.  Are they?  In this day and age, and at this type of club, surely we don't employ bigots.  Do we? 

As an American living in a majority black city, I know better than to think that no one would ever back a racist. We have to be better than that.

The thing is, I don't believe the accusations, but that's really only because I don't want to. We have no idea what happened in those contentious minutes. And it's hard to put footballing loyalties aside. I have to keep asking myself, how would I react if it was Glen Johnson alleging racist abuse? Would I be more believing? I really don't like my answer to that question...

for real.  glen's the only black player in the first team, right?  inneresting... hopefully its somethin out of nothin...

In a sense, yes--everyone's prejudiced or discriminatory in some way, whether or not they acknowledge it, so it's really a matter of employing someone who's daft enough to air those thoughts or beliefs openly. I think there's a big gap between having private thoughts that are racist or bigotous (which we all do, and hopefully we're insightful enough to recognize how offensive or hurtful they are) and shouting them at someone in an effort to degrade or belittle them. We can begrudgingly accept the former, but the latter's completely unacceptable. 

Social scientists have long known the unsettling truth that no matter how egalitarian a person purports to be, their unconsciuos mind holds some racist thoughts. This may say less about the person and more about the culture that surrounds them. Everyone is a product of their environment. The implicit prejudices that exist in most everyone are driven more by this surrounding culture than by any innate horribleness in any particular person. While the "better angels" of our individual psyches may one day prevail over our own individual prejudices, the world in general still has a long way to go.

ya, in response to both you and ed - interesting points that i'm nodding my head to.  I know i've said hurtful things before that while not necessarily indicative of how my conscious mind thinks about some thing or person...well it was still in my head wasn't it?  at least on some level... and re: the nature/nurture thing - think of luis' upbringing... eastcoast south america basically hogs all of the afro blood, and ive seen a nasty streak in argentina and chile when it comes to racism... my own grandmother freaked out once cuz there was an "indio" on the bus that was wayy wayy tanned, and looked black... not exactly overt racism, kinda like a built in prejudice...

either way, still on going, we dont know anything, and my inclination is that evra was just pissed cuz of that kick to the knee, but  say it aint so, luis, say it aint so... 

I guess you live in one of those parts of the world where false accusations of racism are a more serious problem than actual racism.  I'm Franco-American living in the U.S., so i understand how that goes.  It's a real significant problem.  I mean Evra has made the accusation in the past and hasn't been substantiated by the "authorities," so of course he must be liar.  And the reason he keeps getting into these things is mostly likely because he's borderline psychotic, not because he chooses not be quiet about it.  Something really must be done about that

But of course, I must have been imagining things when I saw Sergio Busquets call a fellow player a monkey!  Nothing came of it!  Must be false!

I'm not sure I could have said any more times than I did that if Suarez indeed said what he's accused of by Evra he deserves to be punished. I'm also fairly certain that you now live in one of those parts of the world where the burden of proof falls on the accuser when wrongdoing is alleged.

Moreover, as was pointed out repeatedly, Evra has explicitly claimed that the referee heard Suarez using racial epithets—which, if true, he ignored completely, choosing to hand Evra a yellow card while leaving Suarez unpunished. He also claims that Suarez used said epithets over ten times in an area of the pitch heavily covered by cameras and near the sideline mics.

In such circumstances, yes, you're right, I must be a horrible person to dare suggest that since it should be fairly easy to prove conclusively if Suarez in fact did what Evra said he did, that perhaps it actually should be proven before he gets strung up for it. A trial before the hanging in a case where the accuser's evidence should be readily available and his claims can fairly conclusively be verified? How ridiculously quaint.

If someone had made the claim that racism absolutely does not exist at all, no sir!, you might have a point. Luckily, no one said that!

If Suarez used racist insults during the match, then he should be punished, and I will support whatever punishment the FA hands down. This is bigger than a football rivalry. I can't imagine that many people at this blog would disagree with that.

But yes, I do think malicious, false accusations should be punished, not because I think that being called a racist is worse than being the victim of racism, but because I think racism is a *sufficiently big enough deal* that the last thing we need is to create a climate whereby no one believes any accusation because someone, somewhere, cried wolf too many times.

Please note: I am not saying that Evra is a liar. And even if he has made unfounded accusations in the past (unfounded--not false), that in no way suggests that he can't be the victim of actual racism now or in the future.

But if multiple cameras, placed at multiple locations, covering multiple angles in one of the biggest matches of the year failed to catch a racist slur used *multiple times*, then yes, given the fact that Evra has been involved in three previous unfounded accusations of racism in the past, I'm going to err on the side that Evra, at best, needs his hearing checked.

*Edited because what the hell happened to my paragraph breaks?!

Dismissive sarcasm that draws overly dramatic conclusions intended to be insulting to the writer but are barely related to what's written might not contribute to any sort of actual dialogue.

Patrice Evra: the boy who cried wolf.

careful mate, im not disagreeing, but this is one where we need to deal solely with facts, and im not sure those are on the table yet.

Give it time, people. Mr. Evra is French. He'll surrender eventually. Just like he did at the World Cup.

That's brilliant. Combat an accusation of racism with an ethnic slur.  But, I'm the troublemaker, obvs.

If I call him a cheese eating surrender 'monkey', will anyone believe I'm not being racist towards his skin colour?

People who watch the Simpsons will laugh, those who don't are going to be horrified. Probably too soon.

I suppose it's a good thing then that I'm prejudiced against people that don't watch The Simpsons.

/judging people by their character and not by the color of their skin, just like the good Dr. King suggested

On a related note, one of the announcers on the ESPN broadcast said that Hernandez has "the Mex-factor".

Borderline? Or, genius?

Heard that. At first thought, "racist," and then figured to hell with it because mediocre puns transcend all.

that depends on whether or not they were plugging the new episode where the contestants are gonna perform at simon's house...

o well here he comes again with another allegation.m sure he wont be able to prove anything again and i hope he recieves strict punishment for accusing of false allegations.o wait dont ban him from playing matches coz he is crap anyway.what a TWAT...

if there's no solid proof that Suarez said that thing....does not categorically mean he didn't say them.  It only means the investigation has no case for punishing Suarez, and that is generally how these things pan out.  

IF he said them, there will be proof of some sort.  It's one of the biggest games of the season.  There were cameras everywhere, covering it from all angles.  If Luis said something TEN TIMES, at least one of them had to have been caught on camera.

I find it hard to believe that with the number of cameras and microphones out there, a player can do something more than 10 times in a match and not have it recorded anywhere.  Not to mention Marriner was supposed to have heard it, and if he didn't do anything about it then he should be subject to reprimand too.  If there's really no evidence, either Evra is a liar or Suarez is the smartest most talented racist in the world.

I don't this matter will be dropped.  The evidence will show one way or the other, and someone will have to pay for either racism or libel.

The FA is not the same as Her Majesty's Courts of Justice is basically what I meant about this case probably not going anywhere.  Last season's 'El Clasico'  had accusations of racism levied against Sergio Busquests for language (the word mono; spanish for monkey)   towards Marcelo.  Nothing came of it.

careful not to get hung up on an impassioned evra saying "ten times" and "ref heard it", blah, blah.  it cud be that suarez dropped it only one time and no one heard it.  cud be he said some other derogatory term that has nothing to do with race.  cud be that evra was just pissed bout that kick to the knee and made it all up.  point is, careful, no one rly knows yet, unless u taped the game and are willing to watch back that portion 15 times or so...

not sayin, im jus sayin...

evra was very angry even before the kick...

i hope its not luis...

for real.  say it aint so...

His reputation is not gonna do him any favors.

Far as I can tell the only objectively bad thing he has done is bite that dude in Holland. Otherwise he is a fiery guy who will do anything to win (as seen in South Africa last year). The leap from that to racist isn't one anyone should make easily or take lightly.

who's evra or luis???