Having taken some time to go through the report in detail I wanted to add my own opinion.
Firstly I'd like to say that it's sad that so few of the media, or those commenting on this issue seem to have really understood it.
In my opinion the commission was correct in determining that Suarez is guilty of breaching the FA's rules in that - paraphrasing - he did use a remark containing a reference to a players colour in a comment which could be construed to be abusive or insulting. However it's important to realise that under these rules, "You black tw*t" is illegal, but "you ginger tw*t" or "you stupid tw*t" is not. The rules were clearly written for English culture, where we are very sensitive to describing people by their skin colour, but not generally so senstitive to abuse of gingers or to using stupid as an adjective.
It's clear from the linguistic experts testimony's that in many Spanish speaking countries, the FA's rules as would be written in a different way to achieve the same intent as in Spanish "You black tw*t" can sometimes be no more offensive than "You blonde tw*t".
As the FA have said, this isn't about racism, or even a one of racial slur - it's about the rules of the game having been broken. As such it is a pity that many misinformed commentators have portrayed it as such.
As to the length of the ban - ultimately this has hinged on the fact that the panel have determined that the balance of probability indicates that a serious breach of the rules occurred. The most significant factor here seems to be down to the actions of the club and it's lawyers in preparing for the case and the additional difficulties that Suarez's unfamiliarity with English has brought to this process. Specifically I believe the club erred in trying to get Luis off scott free, whereas I think they should have focussed on trying to prove Luis assertion that he only used the word once and that he now realises that it can cause offence.
Obviously you can pick holes in the process, you can have suspicions that there was an agenda behind it, you can look at the evidence and think that some elements don't seem to stack up, but ultimately it comes down to three key factors
- Suarez admitted use of a word that makes reference to Evra's skin colour.
- There's sufficient evidence to suggest he used it in a debate that contained abusive/insulting exchanges making it irrelevant whether the word wasn't meant that way or not.
- The club could have done a better job of establishing the credibility of Luis version of events/
Hopefully things are now coming to an end with respect to this specific topic and maybe some good can come out of this.
LS has clearly learnt something from the affair, about our culture and values, which will make him a better citizen and a more rounded person.
Senior lawyers are clearly looking at the FA's process, which many clubs and fans have reason to despair of - hopefully this leads to something more consistent and acceptable to all in the future.
Firstly I'd like to say that it's sad that so few of the media, or those commenting on this issue seem to have really understood it.
In my opinion the commission was correct in determining that Suarez is guilty of breaching the FA's rules in that - paraphrasing - he did use a remark containing a reference to a players colour in a comment which could be construed to be abusive or insulting. However it's important to realise that under these rules, "You black tw*t" is illegal, but "you ginger tw*t" or "you stupid tw*t" is not. The rules were clearly written for English culture, where we are very sensitive to describing people by their skin colour, but not generally so senstitive to abuse of gingers or to using stupid as an adjective.
It's clear from the linguistic experts testimony's that in many Spanish speaking countries, the FA's rules as would be written in a different way to achieve the same intent as in Spanish "You black tw*t" can sometimes be no more offensive than "You blonde tw*t".
As the FA have said, this isn't about racism, or even a one of racial slur - it's about the rules of the game having been broken. As such it is a pity that many misinformed commentators have portrayed it as such.
As to the length of the ban - ultimately this has hinged on the fact that the panel have determined that the balance of probability indicates that a serious breach of the rules occurred. The most significant factor here seems to be down to the actions of the club and it's lawyers in preparing for the case and the additional difficulties that Suarez's unfamiliarity with English has brought to this process. Specifically I believe the club erred in trying to get Luis off scott free, whereas I think they should have focussed on trying to prove Luis assertion that he only used the word once and that he now realises that it can cause offence.
Obviously you can pick holes in the process, you can have suspicions that there was an agenda behind it, you can look at the evidence and think that some elements don't seem to stack up, but ultimately it comes down to three key factors
- Suarez admitted use of a word that makes reference to Evra's skin colour.
- There's sufficient evidence to suggest he used it in a debate that contained abusive/insulting exchanges making it irrelevant whether the word wasn't meant that way or not.
- The club could have done a better job of establishing the credibility of Luis version of events/
Hopefully things are now coming to an end with respect to this specific topic and maybe some good can come out of this.
LS has clearly learnt something from the affair, about our culture and values, which will make him a better citizen and a more rounded person.
Senior lawyers are clearly looking at the FA's process, which many clubs and fans have reason to despair of - hopefully this leads to something more consistent and acceptable to all in the future.
