I was accused without evidence, says Suarez
MADRID: Luis Suárez has once again protested his innocence in his spat with Patrice Evra in 2011, claimed there was no evidence against him and insisted allegations of racism were not true.
Speaking as he prepares to make his competitive Barcelona debut, once his four-month ban expires on 25 October, Suárez also revealed he initially could not accept his actions at this summer’s World Cup in Brazil, where he was found guilty of biting Italy’s Giorgio Chiellini.
Suárez has always maintained his innocence against the accusation of racially abusing Evra, despite being found guilty by a three-man Football Association panel, handed an eight-match suspension and fined £40,000 following Liverpool’s match with Manchester United in October. At the time he released a statement, saying he had been “accused of something which I did not, nor would not, ever do” and speaking to Barça Magazine, his stance remains forthright.
“When I say I’m sorry it’s because I regret something,” he said. “Being sorry implies regret. But they have also sometimes judged me on things that aren’t true, such as the racism thing. I was accused without evidence and that’s what grieved me the most. The others were actions when it was me who did wrong. I accepted that and begged forgiveness, but the racism thing, when I was accused without evidence, that did upset me.”
So far limited to friendly appearances following his £75m move to Barcelona over the summer, Suárez is in line to make his competitive debut for the Catalan club on 25 October against, as fate would have it, Real Madrid at the Bernabéu. MESSI STRIKES TWICE IN ARGENTINA WIN
HONG KONG: Argentina strolled to a 7-0 friendly win over Hong Kong on Tuesday, with superstar Lionel Messi and Napoli striker Gonzalo Higuain both netting a brace.
Coach Gerardo Martino started with a second-string side that saw Barcelona’s Messi, Manchester United’s Angel Di Maria and Sergio Aguero of Manchester City all on the bench.
Messi came on with half an hour of the match remaining and played a starring cameo role that delighted the home crowd of just over 20,000. By the time he entered the fray the score was already 4-0 but soon the little wizard had made it five, playing a neat onetwo before dinking the ball over goalkeeper Yapp Hung-fai.
NEYMAR SCORES ALL FOUR IN JAPAN ROUT SINGAPORE: Neymar scored all four goals in a sumptuous display for Brazil as the five-times world champions routed an understrength Japan 4-0 in a friendly in Singapore on Tuesday to maintain Dunga’s perfect start since returning as coach. The Brazilian skipper took his impressive tally to 40 goals in 58 matches after his strikes against a shabby Japanese side on a patchy National Stadium pitch deemed “far short of international standards” by Singapore’s Football Association.
FERDINAND CHARGED FOR TWITTER COMMENT LONDON: Queens Park Rangers defender Rio Ferdinand has been charged with misconduct over a comment he made on Twitter, the Football Association announced on Tuesday. The FA did not identify the posting in question, but reports suggested it concerned a tweet in which Ferdinand had referred to the mother of another Twitter user as a “sket” — a derogatory slang term for a promiscuous woman.