THE ONGOING FA investigation into Patrice Evra’s claims of racial abuse against Luis Suarez may have to take account of cultural differences between the two parties, the Guardian reports.
An independent panel is still looking into Evra’s complaint that Suarez used a racist term “more than ten times” when the pair clashed during last month’s 1-1 draw between Liverpool and Manchester United at Anfield.
But in an interview with Uruguayan newspaper El Pais last week, the Liverpool striker insisted that the name he called Evra was commonly accepted and even used by the Frenchman’s team-mates at United.
Writing in the Guardian today, Daniel Taylor reports “top-level Old Trafford sources” as saying that the word used by Suarez was a variation of “negro,” which would explain Evra’s angry reaction.
However, terms such as “negrito” — an equivalent of “pal” — are commonplace in Spanish-speaking countries and not considered to be offensive.
Suarez immediately denied the allegations, reported by Evra and manager Alex Ferguson to match referee Andre Marriner after the game on 15 October.
Liverpool subsequently said that they would request a ban for Evra if the allegations proved to be false, while Suarez said that he expected an apology from the Frenchman if his name was cleared by the FA investigation.
However, if the FA decide that the issue was based on a linguistic misunderstanding between the two, no further action is likely to be taken against either player.
