Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina has called Luis Suarez’s 10-game ban for biting Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic “absurd and unfair”.
Uruguayan striker Suarez, 26, admitted a charge of violent conduct after he bit Ivanovic during the 2-2 draw at Anfield on Sunday.
“A 10-game ban seems absurd, it’s disproportionate and excessive,” Reina told Spanish radio station Cadena Cope.
“It seems Luis has been treated badly. There’s a lot of hypocrisy.”
Suarez has apologised to 29-year-old Serbian defender Ivanovic and was fined by Liverpool on Monday.
However, the club said they were “shocked and disappointed” at the length of the suspension, with the standard punishment for violent conduct being a three-game ban.
Liverpool have until 12:00 BST on Friday to appeal, but will be without Suarez until late September if the FA uphold their verdict.
“It seems those who punish have taken badly to Luis,” added Spanish goalkeeper Reina. “I consider myself a friend of Luis. He knows he has made a mistake, but 10 games seems to me like an absurd ban.
“Those who know him know he’s a great person but sometimes, when he plays, his temper plays tricks on him.”
Reina, 30, claimed foreign footballers were not treated the same as English players.
He highlighted the four-game ban Chelsea’s John Terry received for racially abusing QPR’s Anton Ferdinand, while Suarez received an eight-game suspension for an incident involving Manchester United’s Patrice Evra.
England striker Jermain Defoe also only received a booking for biting West Ham’s Javier Mascherano while playing for Tottenham in October 2006.
“In England there is a lot of hypocrisy in the press,” said Reina. “There’s a lot of sensationalist media which pick on some people and not others.
“There’s been cases of racism in England that were treated with different yardsticks.”
http://www.bbc.co.uk
Tags: Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina, v
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.