Former Liverpool Football club (LFC) manager, Kenny Dalglish was dismissed at the end of the season after footballer Luis Suárez was found by the Football Association to have racially abused the Manchester United defender Patrice Evra at Anfield on 15 October 2011.
The racist incident started on the pitch when Evra asked Suárez “Porque me diste un golpe”, meaning “Why did you kick me?”. Evra was in shock and upset at having been kicked in the knee by Suárez.
Suárez then replied “Porque tu eres negro” which Evra understood to mean “Because you are a [n word]”.
Suárez claims that he replied to Evra’s question “Why did you kick me?” by saying “que habia sido una falta normal”, meaning “it was just a normal foul”.
Evra responded by stating “Habla otra vez asi, te voy a dar una porrada”, which means “Say it to me again, I’m going to punch you” to which Suárez replied “No hablo con los negros” meaning “I don’t speak to [n word]”.
Evra said that after Suárez’s comments he (Evra) said “Ahora te voy a dar realmente una porrada”, which means “OK, now I think I’m going to punch you”. To this he says that Suárez replied “Dale, negro...negro...negro” meaning “OK bring it on, [n word], [n word], [n word]”. At this point Suárez reached out to touch Evra’s arm, gesturing and drawing attention to the colour of Mr Evra’s skin. This gesture is clearly shown on video footage.
Suárez who was served with an eight-match ban and £40,000 fine was controversially backed by the LFC manager and his teammates who outrageously wore T-shirts in defence of the behaviour of their colleague.
LFC released a statement stating “It is our strong belief, having gone over the facts of the case, that Luis Suárez did not commit any racist act.”
A puzzling statement that s contradicted the FA judgement revealing “Mr Suarez’s evidence was unreliable in relation to matters of critical importance. It was, in part, inconsistent with the contemporaneous evidence, especially the video footage. For example, Mr Suarez said that he pinched Mr Evra’s skin in an attempt to defuse the situation. He also said that his use of the word “negro” to address Mr Evra was conciliatory and friendly. We rejected that evidence. To describe his own behaviour in that way was unsustainable and simply incredible given that the players were engaged in an acrimonious argument.”
Nonetheless, as the controversy grew Dalglish became more vagarious and instead of showing moral leadership by apologising for Suárez offensive behaviour, he became more defensive in his attempts to excuse racist behaviour.
Old Trafford boss, Alex Ferguson claimed that it was Liverpool’s decision to call on a linguistics expert to try and justify Suarez’s use of the word ‘negro’ to led to LFC’s American owner sacking Dalglish leaving his integrity in tatters.
In a letter to LFC owners Boston Red Sox, Toyin Agbetu of Ligali suggested reparation for the injury caused “could take the form of the resignation of Dalglish and/or the cancellation of Luis Suárez employment contract. We suspect if such a vagrant abuse of African Americans had taken place by officials of Boston Red Sox in the US, your organisation would have acted swiftly and with more honesty and moral integrity. It is hoped you recognise the duty upon your international subsidiaries to act the same.”
External Links
Extracts from the FA report on the Luis Suárez Patrice Evra racism caseLiverpool furious as Luis Suárez banned in Patrice Evra racism rowRacism in football: putting the boot in
The racist incident started on the pitch when Evra asked Suárez “Porque me diste un golpe”, meaning “Why did you kick me?”. Evra was in shock and upset at having been kicked in the knee by Suárez.
Suárez then replied “Porque tu eres negro” which Evra understood to mean “Because you are a [n word]”.
Suárez claims that he replied to Evra’s question “Why did you kick me?” by saying “que habia sido una falta normal”, meaning “it was just a normal foul”.
Evra responded by stating “Habla otra vez asi, te voy a dar una porrada”, which means “Say it to me again, I’m going to punch you” to which Suárez replied “No hablo con los negros” meaning “I don’t speak to [n word]”.
Evra said that after Suárez’s comments he (Evra) said “Ahora te voy a dar realmente una porrada”, which means “OK, now I think I’m going to punch you”. To this he says that Suárez replied “Dale, negro...negro...negro” meaning “OK bring it on, [n word], [n word], [n word]”. At this point Suárez reached out to touch Evra’s arm, gesturing and drawing attention to the colour of Mr Evra’s skin. This gesture is clearly shown on video footage.
Patrice Evra stands firm as Suárez hurls racist anti-African abuse
Racist behaviour
Suárez who was served with an eight-match ban and £40,000 fine was controversially backed by the LFC manager and his teammates who outrageously wore T-shirts in defence of the behaviour of their colleague.LFC released a statement stating “It is our strong belief, having gone over the facts of the case, that Luis Suárez did not commit any racist act.”
A puzzling statement that s contradicted the FA judgement revealing “Mr Suarez’s evidence was unreliable in relation to matters of critical importance. It was, in part, inconsistent with the contemporaneous evidence, especially the video footage. For example, Mr Suarez said that he pinched Mr Evra’s skin in an attempt to defuse the situation. He also said that his use of the word “negro” to address Mr Evra was conciliatory and friendly. We rejected that evidence. To describe his own behaviour in that way was unsustainable and simply incredible given that the players were engaged in an acrimonious argument.”
Nonetheless, as the controversy grew Dalglish became more vagarious and instead of showing moral leadership by apologising for Suárez offensive behaviour, he became more defensive in his attempts to excuse racist behaviour.
Old Trafford boss, Alex Ferguson claimed that it was Liverpool’s decision to call on a linguistics expert to try and justify Suarez’s use of the word ‘negro’ to led to LFC’s American owner sacking Dalglish leaving his integrity in tatters.
In a letter to LFC owners Boston Red Sox, Toyin Agbetu of Ligali suggested reparation for the injury caused “could take the form of the resignation of Dalglish and/or the cancellation of Luis Suárez employment contract. We suspect if such a vagrant abuse of African Americans had taken place by officials of Boston Red Sox in the US, your organisation would have acted swiftly and with more honesty and moral integrity. It is hoped you recognise the duty upon your international subsidiaries to act the same.”
Kenny Dalglish lost job after he gave full backing to Luis Suárez racism
External Links
Extracts from the FA report on the Luis Suárez Patrice Evra racism caseLiverpool furious as Luis Suárez banned in Patrice Evra racism rowRacism in football: putting the boot in
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Click here to speak out or read (1) comments about this articleAs the controversy grew Dalglish became more vagarious and instead of showing moral leadership by apologising for Suárez offensive behaviour, he became more defensive in his attempts to excuse racist behaviour.
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