Sir Alex Ferguson believes Liverpool should accept the Football Association's decision to suspend Luis Suarez for eight matches.
Man Utd manager says Liverpool should accept ban
Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson believes Liverpool should accept the Football Association's decision to suspend Luis Suarez for eight matches.
The Reds striker was hit with the lengthy ban and fined £40,000 after being found guilty of using a discriminatory slur against Manchester United full-back Patrice Evra.
Liverpool responded with a strongly-worded statement in which they criticised the FA and claimed Evra should also face charges after he admitted insulting Suarez during the altercation, while their players wore T-shirts in support of the Uruguayan before their draw with Wigan.
Ferguson initially insisted he had 'nothing to say' about the T-shirts, but has now broken his silence and stated the FA reached the correct decision.
"Our support of Patrice was obvious right from the word go and that's still the same," he said.
"The matter is over and I think we're satisfied that they [the FA's independent commission] found the right decision.
"This wasn't about Manchester United and Liverpool at all. It was nothing to do with that. This was an individual situation where one person was racially abused."
Guidelines
The Scot also drew parallels with Evra's four-game ban in 2008 following an incident involving Chelsea groundsman Sam Bethell, saying Liverpool should do what United did and take the punishment even if they disagree.
"Patrice got that suspension for the incident down at Chelsea when no-one was there, just a groundsman and our fitness coach," he said. "He got a four-match ban and we had to wait two weeks for the evidence to come through.
"We were quite astounded at that. A four-match ban? We thought it was well over the top for a trivial incident. But it happened and there's nothing you can do about it, you know."
Kenny Dalglish has continued to back Suarez through a difficult time and said on Friday that he did not think Liverpool's actions in supporting the striker had caused any trouble.
But Dalglish has called for the introduction of guidelines advising clubs on what language is and is not acceptable.
"It would be helpful to everyone if someone gave us some guidelines about what you can and cannot say," the Scot was quoted as saying in the
Independent.
