I hope that the matter doesn't go down this road. The three essential elements in a defamation case would be: 1) To prove that the individual made the statement (slander) or wrote and published the statement (libel) 2) To prove that the statement was false. In this case a declaration by Suarez that no statement was made would then require Evra to prove that it had. 3) To prove that the false statement had caused damage.
Good point dave,Evra gave an interview to Canal+(French,Spanish and South American cable and satelite chanell)telling its many thousands of viewers that Suarez was guilty of racially abusing him before putting in a formal complaint to the FA,surely that in itself brings him into disrepute with the FA and paves the way for Suarez to sue for defamation of character(should Suarez be found not guilty),after all Canal+ and Evra jointly spread a malicious rumour and blackened(no pun intended)Suarez's name.
Exactly right, whether or not Suarez racially abused evra is somewhat irrelevant to evra getting at least a public bollocking for going about it in a most inappropriate way.
Obviously the official complaint Evra made isn't in the public domain, but I somehow find it hard to believe that he officially reported the word being said 'at least ten times.' If so, why say it in the interview? That's like me taking a guy to court for punching me and telling the local newspaper that 'he tried to kill me.' It's a gross exaggeration, and he should at least be warned for inconsistency. Besides which, having seen the few clips they play when reporting the story, namely the incident around the penalty box, it appears there is good footage of that particular portion. If it was said 10 times, what are the chances that NONE of those times were during the goal area incident? Surely Suarez is more likely to say the N word when Evra is right in his face..?
Why give an interview to a foreign tv station before you even lodge a complaint with the FA?,to get people on your side from the off i'd guess,but until he proves it he could face a slander charge from Suarez. Kenny seems extra confident when he says he wants the instigator punished,and it also points to that being discussed and decided by the club,player and the FA.
Evra's body language during the game is going to be enough evidence if Suarez had said something bad to him.Like reasonable person.. he do not need to react violently( because that can result in being booked by the referee) but he can make a point.He need not wait till after the game.People including the officials can work it out if something is going wrong during the game..and that is most likely going to caution the offender.It is possible that Evra is not saying the whole truth.
Evra accused suarez of making racist remarks - he also said that he said it so often that it will be clear on the cameras - if it is not clear on the cameras then it should be possible to prove that evra is lying - suarez must have some comeback if the accusation turns out to be false
Suarez does have a history of win at all costs behaviour. His racism may be merely part of gamesmanship
The fact that it may not have been picked up on camera is not evidence that Evra is lying. Not a pop at you ADM, but what I find suprising is that, although United fans haven't been coming on here and claiming Suarez is racist (for the most part ) alot of Liverpool fans have come on here and called Evra a liar.
Neil Warnock was interviewed this morning and asked about the racist chants coming from Chelsea fans aimed at Anton Ferdinand since the allegation against John Terry,Surprise surprise he brought LFC and our supporters into his response. "I've only read about the abusive chants, but I'm afraid in today's society nothing surprises me," he said on Friday. "You see what happens when Liverpool play United, the abuse that managers get. Stewards look away - some of them even smile at the abuse you get. "I think they (fans) should be put in prison for about two years each, but that's just me flying a kite, isn't it? "It's all right saying we're going to look into it, but you can't look into that." http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11711/7291089/Warnock-Ferdinand-is-focused I think a disrepute charge and a statement from LFC is in order here.
To be fair Eric, the majority of posts from both sides have been almost unaminous in saying that whichever player is at fault then the 'book' should be thrown at them. This is why a Not Proven judgement by the FA is not satisfactory. You also have to accept that the FA Inquiry is not subject to the rules on sub-judice. Every hack, pundit and stringer would have been all over this story and they haven't come forth with any evidence or corroberative evidence. Their silence, whilst not proof, appears to point to the fact that there is no evidence and therefore the allegation was not well founded. In the more free environment of a forum this quickly translates to the claim that Evra must by lying. Add to that the more than less useful comments made by Ferguson and then you give the tribalism even more fuel.
evra said the cameras will prove his allegation - if the cameras dont prove his allegation then he is a liar - if suarez did make racist comments i want rid of him - i'm not saying who is right or wrong, but it seems that it is too easy for an allegation to be made where the person making th allegation has nothing to lose (is a person who makes an allegation an allegator
Seeing as (at the moment) what we are dealing with is essentially an industrial disciplinary matter then there does not need to be proof it can be decided on a balance of probability. Seeing that despite the hours of coverage and the teammates playing along side evra we still have no (known) evidence to back up what evra says. So in all honesty based on a balance of probability would you say evra is telling the truth?
I honestly wouldn't know. Things can easily happen on a football field and not get picked up, 10 times ? probably not but he's probably wrongly exaggerated things there. If they charged Evra, I'm sure he would appeal and get it overturned and visa versa.
If they FA charge him?,maybe but if he faces a lawsuit he'd have to prove what he said was true or face the consequences,and that looks extremely improbable at the moment.
I don't think they will charge anyone either but IMO evra defo deserves a public bollocking for the way he went about it.
This ^^ is a crock of **** (IMO) Being ultra competitive doesn't mean you're any more likely to say it than if you're a fat lazy slob....and would a win at all costs mentality have made him say it TEN times?? Can't see it myself.
