Suarez case adds to pressure on FA to resolve issue
LIVERPOOL face a potential repeat of the infamous Luis Suarez affair after referee Bobby Madley’s report on a stormy Merseyside derby reached the FA with an allegation from Everton’s Mason Holgate that he was racially abused by Liverpool’s Roberto Firmino.
Madley’s report will be scrutinised by the FA’s off-pitch disciplinary department — dubbed their integrity team.
Holgate, accompanied by manager Sam Allardyce and director of football Steve Walsh, went to see Madley after Friday’s FA Cup tie at Anfield and claimed he had heard Firmino use the word ‘negro’ following a heated exchange between the pair after 41 minutes. TV pictures appeared to capture him hollering ‘filho da puta’ (Portuguese for son of a wh**e) before the camera view was accidentally obscured by another player.
Madley was present when the exchanges happened, stepping in to try to separate the players, and it is also possible the fourth official would have heard everything through the communication
channels between himself and the referee. Dialogue on headsets is not recorded, however.
Liverpool have been keen to stress they are willing to co-operate with any future investigation and have not revealed the outcome of their private discussions with Firmino about what was said.
The club’s 17-year-old England junior player Rhian Brewster recently won praise for talking out about his own experiences as a victim of racism in football.
An FA statement yesterday stated: ‘The FA can confirm that referee Bobby Madley was made aware of an allegation during the Liverpool versus Everton game at Anfield (on Friday) night and has subsequently reported this to the FA, which will now begin making enquiries into the matter.’