• Manager hits back over 10-game suspension
• 'The punishment is against the man rather than the incident'
Brendan Rodgers has hit back at the Football Association for victimising Luis Suárez, insisting that his 10-match ban for biting Branislav Ivanovic is a punishment "against the man rather than the incident".
The Liverpool striker was charged with violent conduct over the incident, which occurred in Sunday's 2-2 draw against Chelsea at Anfield. Suárez was not booked for the bite and went on to score an injury time equaliser.
He later apologised and despite accepting the charge and subsequent club fine, an independent disciplinary panel decided to hand out a longer ban than usual.
Liverpool have until midday tomorrow to appeal and will make their decision after receipt of the disciplinary panel's report, which has to arrive with the club before 6pm on Thursday.
"It is the severity of the ban that has hurt most," said Rodgers. "That is something we are bitterly disappointed with - not so much the ban because everyone has seen it and Luis was very open and honest to know it was wrong."
The Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina also attacked the FA's ban calling it "absurd and unfair". Reina said the Uruguayan striker is being singled out because of his nationality and his past mistakes, insisting that it would be different if he was English.
Reina told the Spanish radio station Cadena Cope: "I consider myself a friend of Luis. People in England are treating him different because he is Uruguayan; because he has had a previous episode like this. He knows perfectly well that what he did was wrong but a 10-game ban seems to me absurd, out of proportion and unfair. It seems that the people making the decisions have got it in for Luis a little bit.
"I know Luis and I know that he is the complete opposite [off the pitch]: he is a magnificent person and great team-mate. But because of the way he plays, he is aggressive and very competitive, he plays like a street player and sometimes the way he is gets him into trouble.
"There is a lot of hypocrisy. Some players are treated differently to others. In the racism cases: the one with proof [against him, John Terry] got a four-game ban and Luis got eight matches."
No comments:
Post a Comment