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29 March 2024

Liverpool's Suarez refuses to apologise for slur

Liverpool's Luis Suarez (left) set for a showdown with Manchester United's Patrice Evra whom he racially abused in October. (FILE)

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By Staff

Shamed Liverpool striker has reignited the race row which has rocked English football this season by insisting he does not owe Patrice Evra an apology.

The Liverpool star got an eight-match ban after the FA found him guilty of abusing the Manchester United defender.

But Suarez, who faces Evra at Old Trafford on Saturday, says the spat should have stayed on the pitch.
 
He said: "I was not depressed at all. I knew what I did and there is a kind of football law that says 'what happens on the pitch, stays on the pitch and that's the end of the story'."
 
Suarez, speaking on Radio Sport 890 in Uruguay, said: "I know against Man United it is going to be tense because I'm going to face Evra. But I'm used to having fans whistle at me. I hope nothing unusual happens. I'll have to forget what happened for that moment.
 
"I do know Man United fans are going to try to make me feel uncomfortable.
 
"But I have to tell them — they are going to spur me on if they whistle at me."

Suarez returned for Liverpool off the bench on Monday after nine games out — and walked straight into another controversy.

His wild kick in front of the Kop caught Tottenham's Scott Parker in the stomach and left both Wayne Rooney and Gary Neville claiming he was lucky to escape a red card.

With emotions already running high ahead of his meeting with Evra, it has hardly eased the simmering tension.

Kop boss Kenny Dalglish did not exactly calm things when he controversially claimed after the Spurs match that he felt Suarez "should never have been out in the first place".

Suarez can expect a hostile reception at Old Trafford on Saturday but  teammate Glen Johnson has warned United that the Uruguay striker is ready to let his football do the talking.

The Liverpool full-back insisted: "It's a tough place to go Old Trafford but Luis is a strong character and I'm sure he will let his football do the talking.

"He's a fantastic player and it was great to have him back out there.

"Luis has had a long break so hopefully he's refreshed and ready to put in lots of good performances for us.

"He's going to have a big role to play between now and the end of the season. He is the sort of player we need."

Meanwhile, Evra will not be spared a decision on whether to shake the hand of Suarez after the English Football Association confirmed the pre-match routine will take place when Liverpool visit Manchester United.

The FA avoided an awkward situation between Anton Ferdinand and John Terry, who is accused of using racist language towards the Queens Park Rangers defender, a charge he denies, when Chelsea met Mark Hughes’s team in the FA Cup fourth round last month by cancelling the handshake between the two teams before the game.

The FA had been faced with the embarrassing prospect of several QPR players declining to shake Terry’s hand and took the decision, it said in a statement, “in an attempt to further defuse tensions before the match”.

That will not be the case when Liverpool appear at Old Trafford on Saturday and Suarez faces United for the first time since completing an eight-match ban for racially abusing Evra at Anfield last October.

The two teams are expected to perform the routine before kick-off and, should Suarez start, the United defender will come face to face with the Uruguay international.

United boss Alex Ferguson has stated that he believes Evra should “rise above” the temptation to ignore the handshake from Suarez, should he start.