Re: The Suarez/Evra Racism Row (continued)
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Uruguay captain Diego Lugano backs Luis Suarez after racism ban[/size]
Page last updated at 16:56 GMT, Wednesday, 21 December 2011
Uruguay captain Diego Lugano has backed national team-mate Luis Suarez after his Football Association punishment for racially abusing Patrice Evra.
Liverpool striker Suarez was banned for eight games and fined £40,000 after an incident with Manchester United defender Evra at Anfield on 15 October.
"I can't believe it. They're making a big mistake," Lugano said.
[size=14pt]"Luis is a victim. I can't understand how a player like Evra can do this. He is breaking the codes of football."[/size]
There must have been a temptation to throw the book at Suarez and send a strong anti-racist message to the world. From a South American perspective, the length of the ban might be taken to indicate that this is what the disciplinary board has done
Suarez, who denied the allegations, has 14 days to appeal against the decision after a six-day FA hearing found he used "insulting words", which included a reference to Evra's colour.
"We all know what kind of person Luis is and the values he has," added Paris St Germain defender Lugano on his personal website.
"It's obvious that in England there's a racism problem they're trying to eradicate. That's good but this sentence has no solid arguments."
Suarez, who has won 54 caps for his country, enjoyed success with Uruguay in the summer, scoring in the final as they won the 2011 Copa America.
The Uruguayan Embassy has declined to comment on Suarez's punishment and said they wanted "no involvement" in what they described as a "private matter".
Liverpool released a statement on Tuesday backing Suarez and said they would provide "whatever support he now needs to clear his name".
In November, Brighton manager and former Uruguay international Gus Poyet came out in support of his fellow countryman, saying Suarez was "100% not a racist".
Poyet told talkSPORT: "England needs to understand how the rest of the world lives. If we have that understanding, easy."
Suarez wrote on Twitter: "Today is a very difficult and painful day for me and my family. Thanks for all the support."