UK NEWS: FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION SAY LUIS SUAREZ RACE CASE EVIDENCE WAS ‘UNRELIABLE’ AND ‘INCONSISTENT’ IN RELEASED REPORT
Luis Suarez and Patrick Evra
Several weeks ago the FA (Football Association) announced that footballer Luis Suárez would be banned for eight matches and fined £40,000 for racially abusing Manchester United star Patrick Evra during a match.
Today the Football Association released the independent regulatory commission’s 115-page document which details the case, the conversation the two players had during the match at Anfield on October 15, and explains their decision to fine/suspend Suárez .
Read excerpts from the report below.
The FA’s case, in short, was as follows. In the goalmouth, Mr Evra and Mr Suarez spoke to each other in Spanish. Mr Evra asked Mr Suarez why he had kicked him, referring to the foul five minutes previously. Mr Suarez replied “Porque tu eres negro”, meaning “Because you are black”. Mr Evra then said to Mr Suarez “say it to me again, I’m going to punch you”. Mr Suarez replied “No hablo con los negros”, meaning “I don’t speak to blacks”. Mr Evra continued by saying that he now thought he was going to punch Mr Suarez. Mr Suarez replied “Dale, negro, negro, negro”, which meant “okay, blackie, blackie, blackie”. As Mr Suarez said this, he reached out to touch Mr Evra’s arm, gesturing at his skin. Mr Kuyt then intervened. When the referee blew his whistle and called the players over to him shortly after the exchanges in the goalmouth, Mr Evra said to the referee “ref, ref, he just called me a f**king black”.
Mr Suarez denied the Charge. His case, in short, was as follows. He agreed with Mr Evra that they spoke to each other in Spanish in the goalmouth. When Mr Evra asked why he had kicked him, Mr Suarez replied that it was a normal foul and shrugged his shoulders. Mr Evra then said that he was going to kick Mr Suarez, to which Mr Suarez told him to shut up. As Mr Kuyt was approaching, Mr Suarez touched Mr Evra’s left arm in a pinching style movement. According to Mr Suarez, at no point in the goalmouth did he use the word “negro”. When the referee blew his whistle to stop play, Mr Evra spoke to Mr Suarez and said (in English) “Don’t touch me, South American”. Mr Suarez replied “Por que, negro?”. He says that he used the word “negro” in a way with which he was familiar from his upbringing in Uruguay. In this sense, Mr Suarez claimed, it is used as a noun and as a friendly form of address to people seen as black or brown-skinned (or even just blackhaired). Thus, it meant “Why, black?” Mr Suarez maintained that when he said “Por que, negro?” to Mr Evra, it was intended in a conciliatory and friendly way.
On 11 November, the FA instructed two experts, Dr Scorer and Professor Wade. The
experts were instructed to prepare a written report on the linguistic and cultural
interpretations of the words “negro” and “negros” in Rioplatense Spanish. The instructions went into further detail as to the issues which the experts were asked to cover. The FA provided the experts with relevant materials, including 12 video clips of the match, the witness statement of Mr Evra and the transcript of the interview with Mr Suarez. The experts provided a written report to the FA on 15 November
Click HERE to read the full report. It is long but a very interesting read.
