Isn't it funny......

It's a good point raised by MrMortimer. Perhaps Evra didn't really care and thought excellent, a way to get Suarez back. Of course that's a really bad way to look at the situation but it's not something we can rule out.

HOWEVER, the comment that has been misconstrued will have offended a great number of people, and that's what is important here.

Mr M.

I think I do, but that is only because Evra seems to be one of lifes professionally offended people.

I posted earlier that I also think Suarez knew exactly what he was doing when he called him that name X times, and then ruffled his hair as though he (Evra) were a little kid, he wanted to get under his skin, and it worked, but nobody thought it would backfire as spectacularly as it has done

Agree with Sandsend 100%.

Although I think Suarez was trying to offend Evra, he didn't realise how seriously the race issue is taken in Britain and saw calling him Negro/Negrito in the same light as him calling Evra a stupid frog or shortâss.

Mr Mortimer, reading the FA report (Section 128) Evra initally claimed to have been insulted because he said to Ferguson 'Boss, Suarez called me a nig***'

If that was true he would have good reason to feel aggrieved.

Evra obviously later changed his mind and decided that the word used was negro, which in my view is far less of a slur - the fact that I'm permitted to write it here appears to support that view.

Did Evra deliberately 'misinterpret' what was said to him? We'll never know.

>>Does anyone actually believe Evra was offended by Suarez's comments?

I think he wanted to be offended and likes the drama.

That's why he started off telling everyone who'd listen that Suarez called him a n$$$er 10 times. When he knew full well he didn't say or mean that word or say any such word that many times.

Then he changed his story when it was time to 'tell the truth'. Which I'm not even sure he did in the end.

Suarez did the opposite to some extent by making his version a little too innocent at first then admitting to something.

Fred Bassett - yes I think winding opponents up is a part of the game. If you can get an opponent thinking about you, rather than his own performance he won't be as good. It happens in a lot of sports... and is no doubt why Evra began the comments to Suarez.

I don't for a second believe Evra was offended... I sincerely doubt someone so sensitive would make the remarks he did. I don't know him personally so I could of course be wrong - but it just seems utterly wrong.

I find it amazing that Evra's evidence was found to be credible while Suarez apparently wasn't because he changed his story. Reading sections 128 - 131 its quite clear that Eva and then Ferguson complained to the ref that Suarez called Evra a nig***. We all now know that that is completely untrue.

Negro is a word that is used by some serious-minded black people to identify themselves (eg the National Association of Negro Musicians www.nanm.org). The other n word is a abusive term that allows no scope for misinterpretation.

The 2 are not synonymous.

I don't claim that Suarez is lilywhite in all of this. However, it's not beyond the realms of possibility that Evra deliberately alleged the strongest possible insult knowing that he could set the racism ball rolling knowing that when he later toned down the language the FA would find it hard to drop the case if there were any racist overtones whatsoever in what was said.

FSB

to be fair to Evra, there is also the possibility that after being a bit of a drama queen and completely overexaggerating what happened, he felt guilty when it turned into a full blown, global circus and tried to come back closer to something resembling the truth.

I don't think he thought the aftermath would become what it did in some sort of a premeditated Dr Evil way.

FSB - think the FA are in a difficult situation because of the public scrutiny. If they said there was no case to answer - or deliver a small ban then will be criticised as being weak on the issue of racism. After the stick given to Blatter recently they couldn't afford this.

So the truth went out the window and they just did what was in their own interests...

Look at the appeal to get Rooney's ban shortened - it goes against their stance on violent conduct, but because the England team may suffer they ignore consistency and suit themselves.

Are they that cynical really? I'm not sure... but it isn't hard to make the case that they are!

"The FA boss who sent a racist email to his friends is still working for English football’s governing body.

Peter Brown forwarded the offensive gag from his business account in September, just hours before Bulgarian fans hurled racist abuse at black England players.

He was due to retire at the end of last month, but he is still at the Bedfordshire FA to ensure a “smooth handover” to his successor, Keith Stroud.

Mr Brown, 65, had made a public apology and offered to quit during an investigation.

But FA bosses, who recently banned Liverpool’s Luis Suarez for eight games following racist comments, took no action against the chief executive."