Condemned: Anti-racism groups have criticised
Liverpool's supportive stance for race-row striker Suarez
Liverpool have been accused by equality
campaigners of 'critically undermining' the fight against racism in
football with their support for Luis Suarez.
The Uruguay striker was banned for eight games for
racially abusing Manchester United defender Patrice Evra during the
two sides' Barclays Premier League clash at Anfield in
October.
Though the club decided against an appeal, they have
repeatedly made clear their dissatisfaction with the guilty verdict
and Suarez compounded the problem by refusing to shake Evra's hand
ahead of the return fixture on February 11.
Both Liverpool and Suarez apologised for the latter
incident and Suarez issued a public apology five days after the
Football Association released their written judgement on the case,
though he has never apologised directly to Evra in a public
forum.
An open letter from local and national black leaders
called for club and player to do just that.
The letter, displayed in full on the National Black Police
Association (NBPA) website, read: 'LFC actions, in vehemently
rejecting the findings of the FA inquiry, their public displays of
support for a player found guilty of racist abuse and his
subsequent refusal to shake the hand of Evra at a recent game is
completely unacceptable. These actions we believe could be
considered as inciting racial intolerance.
On the spot: Suarez remains under spotlight for his
actions to Patrice Evra
'Whilst the subsequent apologies for the failure
to engage with the traditions of a pre-game handshake are to be
welcomed, there remains deep concern about LFC's absolute refusal
to accept the findings of the FA's investigation. As such these
apologies fail to meet the test of genuine remorse and
understanding. This is further negated by LFC's failure to
apologise for racism either through the club or
Suarez.
'Neither have LFC recognised or acknowledged the
consequent damage to race relations resulting from their actions
and recognised by many people of all races across the country. As a
result efforts to combat racism in football and the wider society
in general have been critically undermined.
'Compounding these serious errors is the failures of
Liverpool's civic leaders, many of whom have remained silent on
these critical issues and have failed to publicly condemn LFC's
decision not to robustly and effectively challenge
racism.'
The open letter is signed by members of the Liverpool
Black Leadership Forum, Merseyside TUC, North West United Against
Facism, the Society of Black Lawyers and the NBPA, among
others.
Gloria Hyatt, who leads the Liverpool Black Leadership
Forum, added: 'Liverpool FC has presided over the worst incident of
racism in football seen in recent years.
'Their misguided handling of the... saga has let down all
of those in the city who work hard to challenge racism and to make
Liverpool a better place to live for everyone.'