At the moment you can’t read more than a couple of articles or news features on sports sites without reading more conjecture or opinions on Luis Suarez and his utter demonisation. Every day there are ‘updates’ (without anything to say) that tell us where somebody eminently important stands on this debate about why Suarez is a horrid little creature and should be banned, having an example set of him in the process.
As a Liverpool fan, the most frightening prospect of all is that this may well happen, particularly given the extreme length of time that the authorities are taking over deciding his punishment/setting a date for any prospective appeal by the player and his club. He is not yet what you would call a superstar; he hasn’t been around long enough in a big league, nor is he as fashionable a player as Messi or Ronaldo and – unfortunately for us – he doesn’t play for a club that is heavily favoured by the media or footballing authorities so, long story short, if there is the need for a player to be made an example of for racial abuse then you can guarantee Suarez will be the man on the receiving end, it is simply too good an opportunity to miss.
No matter what you think of the man or the player (or the fact that, as a Liverpool fan this might sound biased) but I get a definite sense of Suarez being a massive scapegoat for the footballing authorities. Since he joined Liverpool 11 months ago any 50/50 decision has seemed to go against him. When he arrived he came on the back of a really ugly incident in Holland were he bit an opponent and was in the midst of a lengthy ban. Sadly for him – and also, us – that has tarnished his reputation ever since and is apparently becoming worse week on week.
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I’m not suggesting for a second that he doesn’t bring a lot of it on himself, certainly not. He does dive, he does hassle referees far too much and he really annoys every opposition team and manager that he comes across. However, he wouldn’t be such a stand-out pain in the a**e if he wasn’t one of the most talented and dangerous men in the league. In fact, his treatment seems slightly reminiscent of that dished out to Torres when he was at his height. He had a similar style: went down too easily at times, moaned and whined all game long and wound up other teams and managers because of those things combined with his supreme – pre-Chelsea – abilities. It seems that barely a game has gone by this season without Suarez being denied at least half a dozen nailed on free-kicks and one clear penalty shout and it’s really hard to believe that his reputation doesn’t influence at least 85% of these calls.
Given Suarez’s recent reputation, the odds are already weighed massively against him for both cases that he’s involved in at the moment. The game authorities are already not very fond of him, referees prefer to pretend he isn’t there and opposition fans roundly hate him before the game even kicks off, so it stands to reason that he’ll have a large fine at least, or decent-sized ban at most in the coming weeks. But when you consider that Harry Redknapp is likely to get off with gesturing at Shamrock’s fans last week and also that the only people that know what was actually said between Evra and Suarez are Evra and Suarez – not to mention that John Terry will most likely get off with a similar charge – you could start to build a pretty convincing case for Suarez being the victim of a bit of witch-hunt. Because let’s be honest: when there is a decision that would normally be weighed 70/30 in favour of a player you can guarantee that, in Suarez’s case, it is more than likely 30/70 against.
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Why can’t footballers bring charges against supporters and ultimately clubs, for victimisation, incitement and verbal abuse they receive? Supporters can be seen screaming and gesturing towards opposition players all the time, but nothing is ever done!
It’s a disgrace and an environment that I fear
Will keep me and my son away from supporting my team in the future.
The verdict has just been released. Our worst nightmare has just been realised. Luis Suarez is banned for 6 matches and fined a hefty sum of £75,000 by the English FA.
no it aint u chattin sh*t
suarez is a filthy racist, and a scumbag everyone new that before he even joined the pool. incase ye didnt no he got sent off for biting someone a few months before ye idiots signed him, so that makes three nasty things in one year, and somehow ye think he is being victimised.
You’re a filthy racist and a scumbag… and you can’t spell.
i think liverpool should be banned for trying to even stand up for such a little nasty fecker
@ stiofain – remove head from sphincter then speak!!
dear stiofan please tell us who u support ?