Racism Row Rumbles On

The FA

So the Suarez-Evra-Terry-Ferdinand rows continue to plague both the national, and sporting news and as with anything the FA does, the consequences and fall out from the decision will have disastrous effects should they be consistent with their decision to ban Luis Suarez for 8 games. I'm aware that the FA aren't currently involved with the Terry case, as it is a police matter, but if found guilty it should then also become a FA matter (if not only for him being the England captain!). Also on that point, if found not guilty by a criminal court, surely in the interests of fairness and equality he should also be tried by the FA. He may not be guilty of a criminal offence, but he may still be open to charge from the FA.

The biggest thing that could escalate from this decision, is the chance for anyone to play 'the race card' and get someone else banned. This assumption is based entirely on the Liverpool FC statement which reads: 

"We find it extraordinary that Luis can be found guilty on the word of Patrice Evra alone when no-one else on the field of play - including Evra's own Manchester United teammates and all the match officials - heard the alleged conversation between the two players in a crowded Kop goalmouth while a corner kick was about to be taken."

 On that basis (and purely as an example) Spurs take on Chelsea tonight in a huge game, a key battle in the fight for fourth place. What would be better for Chelsea than to see Rafa van der Vaart banned for 8 games as Spurs challenge Chelsea for the Champions League places? Going by what has happened with Suarez and Evra, and the LFC statement, all it takes is for Ashley Cole, Jon Obi Mikel, Didier Drogba, Daniel Sturridge to turn around after the game and say van der Varrt had racially abused him. (I'm not suggesting they would for one minute!) the FA would have to then ban van der Vaart for 8 games to be consistent with the precedent set with the Liverpool number 7. All it would take is the word of one of those players, and Spurs are without a key talisman coming into the crunch period of the season. That's if the FA are consistent with what they've done in this case, which we all know isn't likely.

Rooney sees red in Montenegro

That brings me on nicely to the FA appealing against the 3 game banned handed to Wayne Rooney after seeing red for a blatant kick in Montenegro that night. They can go against conclusive, hard evidence that Rooney committed violent conduct, an immediate 3 game ban from the FA in the Premiership, and appeal. There is no denying he kicked the Montenegro player, it's there in black and white (no irony intended). Yet they still went to Switzerland to appeal and have his ban reduced to 2 games for a competition we may be out of by the time Rooney can play, unlikely but possible. Again, based on what LFC have said in their statement, there is no conclusive, impartial evidence that can find Suarez guilty, and yet they have stated that if LFC appeal the ban, it can be increased to more than 8 games. Is this consistent? I find it hypocritical and astonishing!

It smacks of the FA trying to give the two-fingers to UEFA/FIFA after the Blatter racism row. Trying to show them how to do the job, it's no secret that the organisations have a frosty relationships after the 2018 bid and various other matters. Liverpool and Suarez have been made an example of in my opinion and it will be interesting to see how they follow up the Terry case. Tim Vickery's blog on the BBC did (now unable to find!) asked the question if this was more of a political statement from the FA rather than being a stand on racism, something I personally agree with, given the lack of evidence. We all know how many cameras there are at games, and you'd have thought something was captured on them, ala Terry. 

Evra is no stranger to playing the race card, having been reported to have previously leveled it at Steve Finnan and the Chelsea FC groundsman Steve Bethell, and it will be a sad, sad day if this is what football has come to. Wrongly accusing someone of something that is a criminal offence to gain an advantage in the footballing arena is ridiculous. It's not something I want to dwell on though, as it is 'reported' and we all know how subjective that is.

Finally the media has once again done a fantastic job of blowing something out of proportion. Kenny Dalglish and the Liverpool players wore shirts last night at Wigan as a sign of their support for Luis Suarez, who they obviously believe didn't racially abuse Evra. They DID NOT wear the shirts to condemn racism, having anti-racism groups on Sky Sports News this morning seemed completely ridiculous as that wasn't the purpose of the t-shirts.

Liverpool players show support for Suarez