Luis Suarez Criticises Liverpool for Not Handling Patrice Evra Racism Row Well

Luis Suarez says he was not racist towards Patrice Evra and has criticised his former club Liverpool for not defending his case.

The incident took place during a league clash between Liverpool and Manchester United at Anfiled in December 2011.

The former Red Devils star accused the Uruguayan international of racially abusing him, for which the FA handed him an eight-match ban.

Suarez revealed he did speak to the then Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish and also Damien Comolli, who were acting as the striker's mouthpiece before the hearing.

The 27-year-old, who joined Barcelona earlier in the summer, believes the Merseyside club would have handled the entire situation well.

"Once the formal letter from the FA had reached the club, I don't really think we knew the best way to go about dealing with it. The lawyers took control of the case," Suarez writes in his autobiography Crossing the Line, as quoted by the Liverpool Echo.

"They said that it would be two or three games if any, as if the number of games rather than clearing my name was the most important thing. Looking at it now with a cooler head, I don't think we handled it well."

"We were not able to put across that this word was used in Spanish and that it has nothing to do with the 'negro' word as it is pronounced and used in English."

"I told Comolli what had happened. He then told Kenny Dalglish and they both told the referee and it was that version that went to the hearing."

"Why did I not go to the referee's room myself? Because nobody told me to and because I did not speak good English. I'm not saying this is Comolli's fault. Absolutely not."

"He is the one who had to transmit exactly what I had said to the referee and there are intricacies and nuance in the language," the former Liverpool star stressed.

Suarez was involved in another incident while at Liverpool. He was found biting Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic in a league clash in 2013, for which the FA banned him from 10 matches.

The former Ajax man was also handed a lengthy ban for biting Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini during the World Cup in the summer. He recently returned to the first team and made his Barcelona debut during his side's 3-1 defeat to Real Madrid on Saturday.