Luis Suarez has maintained he is not a racist and explained how his use of the word ‘negro’ during an argument with Patrice Evra was misunderstood.
In October 2011, the player was banned for eight matches and fined £40,000 for racially abusing the then Manchester United defender.
Suarez has opened up on the incident in his new autobiography Crossing the Line: My Story, claiming that his use of ‘negro’ was not understood by those who do not speak Spanish.
In extracts of the book published by the Guardian, he said: ‘Am I a racist? No, absolutely not.
‘I was horrified when I first realised that is what I was being accused of. And I’m still sad and angry to think that this is a stain on my character that will probably be there for ever.
‘What some people will never want to accept is that the argument took place in Spanish. I did not use the word “negro” the way it can be used in English.’
He added: He said: ‘What hurts is when people say: “Luis Suarez? – good player, bit crazy sometimes … and a racist.” Or worse: “Luis Suárez: racist.” Nothing else, just that: racist.
‘The word hurts, the accusation is painful. I think that is why I reacted the way I did at Fulham when I showed the finger to some abusive supporters and picked up another ban. All I could hear was that word.
‘Put “Luis Suarez” into an internet search engine and up comes the word “racist”. It’s a stain that is there for ever. And it is one that I feel I do not deserve.’
Leave a Reply