By David Gold
December 21 – Uruguay’s National Sport Director Ernesto Irureta has vehemently defended Liverpool striker Luis Suarez after the forward was hit with an eight game ban after being found guilty of using language toward Manchester United defender Patrice Evra which the Football Association (FA) said was “insulting” and made reference to the Frenchman’s colour.
Liverpool are awaiting the full judgment before deciding whether or not to appeal against the charge over the incident, which occurred during Liverpool’s 1-1 draw with Manchester United in October.
Irureta told Últimas Noticias that the sanction was “absurd.”
“A sanction like this is absurd, out of place and absolutely exaggerated,” he said.
“What’s happening in Europe is a product of their problems and not a product of what happens among players and one of them concerns racism… we have a country with differences but a long way from those circumstances that occur in the Old Continent.
“What’s more, there’s the story that the other sportsman [Evra] might have called Luis a ‘sudaca’ [a derogatory Spanish term for South Americans].”
Liverpool want Evra charged for allegedly using this term towards Suarez, and they say that the player’s evidence should not be considered credible as the club argue he has twice previously accused others of racism, before having those cases thrown out.
Uruguay is particularly hurt at the charge as they have a tradition of inclusiveness and were the first national team to field a black player in an international tournament, long before their South American rivals, at the Copa America in 1916.
National team coach Oscar Tabarez’s assistant Celso Otero also defended their star striker, who played a leading role as Uruguay lifted the Copa America earlier this year, helping them rise to number four in the world rankings, adding that the player should learn from the episode due to his status.
Paris St Germain and Uruguay defender Diego Lugano was another who leapt to Suarez’s defence and claimed that the word his international team mate used would not be considered racist at home.
“I can’t believe it, they’re making a big mistake,” he wrote on www.diegolugano.org.
“It’s obvious that in England there’s a racism problem they’re trying to eradicate, and that’s good, but this sentence has no solid arguments.
“Luis is a victim,” Lugano continued, before turning fire on Evra, who was last year suspended by the French Football Federation for his role in leading a player’s strike during the country’s disastrous World Cup.
“I can’t understand how a player like Evra can do this.
“He’s breaking all the codes of football.
“We all know what kind of person Luis is and the values he has.”
Like Evra, Suarez has also courted controversy over the years, and was recently charged with the FA for a hand gesture made towards Fulham fans during a league game.
At last year’s World Cup, he angered neutrals by handling a goalbound shot on the line in the last minute of extra time against Ghana in the quarter-finals, and then celebrating when the resultant penalty was missed.
And during his time in Holland with Ajax, he was handed a seven match ban for biting PSV Eindhoven midfield Otman Bakkal.
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December 2011: FA hand Suarez eight match ban for Evra comments