For the racist Liverpool and unapologetic Suarez

Liverpool players warming-up in Suarez T-shirts before the Wigan game

Honestly speaking, I never wanted to comment on the Suarez - Evra controversy because I am black hence I could have been very subjective in my approach to the issue.  Initially, I thought that the whole saga will be settled professionally just like any other incidence of racism rocking our beautiful game. But I was wrong, the issue has refused to die and has been blown out of proportion, thanks to Liverpool's "You will never walk alone" mentality. In the end I have been greatly disappointed with the way Mr Kenny Dalglish and the entire Liverpool fraternity have chosen to handle this embarrassing saga. I have therefore been forced by circumstances to come out of my cocoon and voice my concern.

At first we saw the T-shirts, which Liverpool players and their manager Mr. Dalglish wore in total support of their racist player before their 0-0 draw at Wigan Athletic. The Liverpool players were greatly angered and saddened by the 8-match ban imposed on their player for racially abusing Patrice Evra.  Luis Suarez was assured that he "will never walk alone" as per Anfield anthem. I was greatly disturbed and was at pains to explain to my five year old nephew who asked me why Liverpool players were wearing the Luis Suarez T-shirts. My nephew remembers Suarez for the Ghana World Cup goal that was never to be. My explanation forced me to go into the origins of racism where I had to handle fragile topics like slave trade, colonialism and lynching in order to paint a good picture of the negro for my nephew to decipher the whole saga. It was bad, emotional and hectic.

What happened then was that instead of watching my beautiful game, I ended up giving a lecture on racism as everyone around curiously asked me questions whose answers required long explanations. There were few points of disagreements with my impromptu class on the racist conduct of Liverpool.  This forced me to take my lap top, which is always handy, and mount a power point presentation on the racial question in English football in general before zeroing in on Liverpool.  I traced the history of black players at Liverpool from a forgotten South African in the 1950s through Howard Gayle and the great John Barnes up to the latest generation which has just been purged from the club by Mr. Kenny Dalglish.

Now the saga continues to take various twists. Luis Suarez has issued what he calls an apology in which he makes no mention of the player he wronged: Patrice Evra. In his miserable apology he argues that he "admitted to the Commission that he said a word once and only once". He continues: "I never used this word in a derogatory way and if it offends anyone then I want to apologise for that." Here the racist gentleman refuse to apologise directly to Mr Evra, a clear sign that he has no regard for black people. In fact, the the Commission found that he used the term "negro" seven times in a space of two minutes. You can judge yourself if this was derogatory or not. And to add insult to injury, Mr. Suarez says without remorse that he will face the punishment with the resignation of someone who has done nothing wrong. Sometimes it helps to admit that you are wrong when you are told that what you have done is wrong.

Liverpool is even making matters worse by suggesting peace talks with Manchester United in an attempt to reduce offensive chants against Suarez in his first match after the ban on 11th February at the Old Trafford. Here it clearly shows that Liverpool are more concerned with the welfare of their racist player and do not feel sorry for Mr Evra whose integrity was greatly hurt. I hereby applaud Sir Alex Fergusson who has played down the importance of such peace talks. To add insult to injury, the mother of the racist player is even worried not with the behaviour of her son but rather that black players will aim at sorting him out in order to settle the scores. Going by such sentiments, one is left doubting if the racial orientation of the mother is straight. And now what is this I hear that Liverpool fans today have just racially abused Tom Adeyemi, a 20 year old black Oldham Athletic defender in a third round FA Cup match at the Anfield? For your information, Adeyemi is a British citizen.

Now I have had enough of this racist Liverpool. Here I just want to remind the world that Liverpool has to a greater extent been a racist football team. It is true that some black players like Howard Gayle, John Barnes Emile Heskey and Ryan Babel have made a name for themselves at Liverpool, but a racism is not a new phenomenon at Anfield. For instance, the great John Barnes who played for the club in the 1980s was nicknamed "Tarmac" and "Digger". This is a man who alongside other great Liverpool players was featured in the 1988 Anfield Rap in commemoration of Liverpool's participation in the FA Cup final of that year. If this is not racism then you will tell me what it is. It is quite absurd that despite his selfless contribution at Liverpool, John Barnes was viewed not as a mere person just like any other but rather as a person with a colour problem.

The racist mentality at Liverpool has even been cemented by their manager, Mr. Kenny Mathieson Dalglish, MBE.  This gentleman who was once a great Liverpool player has always been racist to a great extent if his treatment of black players is anything to go by. Since he came to Liverpool as manager, he has old almost every black player there: Babel, Plessis, el Zhar you name them. Today you will hardly see a black man in Liverpool's first team. This even explains why the team had no trouble in wearing the Suarez T-shirts in total support of his racist conduct. When he was Newcastle he did the same. He sold Ferdinand, Hislop and Asprilla. Should we trust people like Mr Dalglish and the other guys in corridors of power at Liverpool with the responsibility of kicking out racism in football? Liverpool has disappointed me big time.