The 11th February 2012 will go down as a day that was remembered for all the wrong reasons. It was a normal Saturday Premier League line up until Liverpool took to the pitch at Old Trafford to take on Manchester United. Both teams were lining up for the usually obligatory Fair Play handshakes, and any football fan that hasn't lived under a rock for the past few months knew that it would be the first time that Luis Suarez and Patrice Evra would be on the same pitch since Suarez had served his 9 match ban for alleged racism against Evra.
It is first obvious to note that Suarez has always protested his innocence and stated many times that what was said was not meant to be discriminating in any way, but stupidly tried to play it off by saying it wouldn't have been taken so seriously in his own country. The main issue today was simple. Instead of Evra not extending his hand it was the other way around. I don't think that anyone can deny that Patrice Evra showed a great deal of class by being the one who opened up the potential to bury this hatchet. The main issue was that for whatever reason, Suarez did not. This was grossly unfair on both men. Suarez is entitled to feel hard done by in regards to the FA decision, but taking it out on the man with whom he insulted was both tactless and immoral.
Suarez will now forever have this stain on his character, and being that the Premier League has spent so much time and money on their 'Kick Racism Out Of Football' campaign, this and the John Terry/Anton Ferdinand have really taken them back a few steps. Alex Ferguson was spot on in his post match interview. We HAVE come a long way from the days of John Barnes being pelted with banana's, and although the game has come on leaps and bounds since then, there is still so much work to do.
There was, of course far more for the fans to see throughout the game. A half time scuffle in the dressing rooms, Rio Ferdinand not shaking Suarez's hand in protest, and of course, Evra's over the top celebrations at the end. This was probably not the best thing to do, for obvious reasons. While I don't agree with Suarez and his actions, I was always taught that two wrongs do not make a right.
What alarmed me most in this whole debacle was not Luis Suarez though. It was the ramblings of Kenny Dalglish after the game. The man stood there and blamed the man interviewing him by stating that his line of questioning was 'out of order'. No Kenny, I think that would be the actions of your player that were out of order. He swore blind that he has no incline of what had happened at the beginning of the game and even tried to palm off the issue in the dressing room at half time. He then began rambling about how 24 hour news has changed the way that news in the game is presented. If you really hadn't heard about anything that had been going on, maybe if you had just said the situation will be looked into in due course, it may have got the man interviewing you off your back. Ignorance is not an excuse, and even if Kenny Dalglish was not being ignorant, he was still acting it.
Luis Suarez should be punished yes, but I really do think that his reputation will have taken enough of a hit now. I don't agree with Ferguson on one thing, that he should not be allowed to play for Liverpool again. I think that is a bit harsh. But repercussions are bound to come from this, and for the sake of the future of the game, and the abolishment of racism in it, I for one am sure that Luis Suarez will reap what he has sown.
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