Suarez evidence 'unreliable' and 'inconsistent': Commission
Liverpool’s Luis Suarez gave “unreliable” and “inconsistent” evidence to the commission investigating claims that he racially abused Manchester United’s Patrice Evra, it emerged tonight.
The Football Association released the independent regulatory commission’s full written reasons this evening on its website.
The 115-page document goes into detail of the case and the conversation the two players had during the match at Anfield on October 15.
On December 20, following a lengthy investigation by an Independent Regulatory Commission, the FA announced that Suarez would be banned for eight matches and fined £40,000 for racially abusing Evra.
The ban was suspended pending an appeal by the Merseyside club.
The report stated in its summary: "Mr Evra was a credible witness. He gave his evidence in a calm, composed and clear way. It was, for the most part, consistent, although both he and Mr Suarez were understandably unable to remember every detail of the exchanges between them.
“Mr Suarez’s evidence was unreliable in relation to matters of critical importance. It was, in part, inconsistent with the contemporaneous evidence, especially the video footage.
"For example, Mr Suarez said that he pinched Mr Evra’s skin in an attempt to defuse the situation. He also said that his use of the word ’negro’ to address Mr Evra was conciliatory and friendly. We rejected that evidence.
“To describe his own behaviour in that way was unsustainable and simply incredible given that the players were engaged in an acrimonious argument. That this was put forward by Mr Suarez was surprising and seriously undermined the reliability of his evidence on other matters.
“There were also inconsistencies between his accounts given at different times as to what happened.”
