Suarez deserves more punishment over racist act

The racial saga involving Liverpool's Luis Suarez and Manchester United's Patrice Evra didn't end upon Suarez's return from suspension.

Suarez recently served an eight-game suspension for racially taunting Evra with a word expressed in Spanish. At first Suarez, a Latino Uruguayan national, denied the allegation. But he later said the word he directed at Evra, a black player, wasn't a racially offensive word in his country, so it wasn't intended to be conveyed as a racist statement.

Nevertheless, after an investigation was concluded, the English Football Association suspended Suarez. During his suspension, many Liverpool fans donned shirts in support of Suarez. Two weeks ago, when both teams met in an FA Cup match, one fan was arrested on suspicion of making racist taunts aimed at Evra. Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish also vocally supported Suarez, even defying orders to not speak about the issue while investigation was ongoing.

Liverpool's Luis Suarez was accused of racism by Manchester United's Patrice Evra

It's no surprise then that Dalglish continued to sing his forward's praise after Saturday's offensive act. Just before the start of the match, players exchanged the obligatory handshakes symbolizing fair play. But when it came to Suarez's turn to shake his opponents, the Liverpool forward ignored Evra. Not appreciating the diss, Evra grabbed Suarez's arm in a bid to stop him, but was separated by match officials.

It appears that despite the time off, Suarez remains unapologetic and hasn't learned his lesson. Neither has Dalglish. Suarez had the chance to show his previous action was out of character, and to really prove he wasn't a racist player. He knew the cameras would be anticipating the moment he would meet with Evra; perhaps hoping that Suarez might linger a bit longer to embrace the Man U captain or even exchange a few words. Instead, his act of defiance confirmed his immaturity. It proved he had learned nothing from the experience.

Dalglish also missed an opportunity to instil some discipline as a manager.

"People are already speculating on the pre-match ceremony, but from Luis’s point of view we have spoken to him and I know he will shake the hand of Patrice Evra and the other Manchester United players before the game," said Dalglish, in anticipation of the match.

Yet, Dalglish did not publicly chastise Suarez's behavior. In fact, he did the opposite. He continued to back his star player, urging everyone to move past the incident.

How can a major issue such as racial discrimination be ignored? Several European football leagues have struggled with this problem. The Italian league and German Bundesliga have had their share of racial incidents. The English Premiership hasn't been exempt from its own racial discrimination allegations either. Previous English team captain and Chelsea defender John Terry, who's white, was recently stripped of his title amid allegations he directed a racist comment at Queens Park Ranger's Anton Ferdinand, a black English player. English national team manager Fabio Capello resigned in protest of Terry being stripped of his role while the investigation is ongoing.

Anton Ferdinand and John Terry argue over allegations of racist remarks. The investigation is ongoing.

Dalglish could have exercised his authoritative right by pulling Suarez from the match. Yet he chose the cowardly way, like Capello's resignation, to let Suarez play. The Terry-Ferdinand incident is still under investigation, so Capello may get a pass, but Dalglish' poor handling of Suarez' behavior sends the message that he condones the actions.

Several black players in the EPL have voiced their disdain and lack of respect for Suarez. Manchester United's manager Alex Ferguson has publicly decried both Suarez' behavior and the team's handling of it, but there needs to be more outcry, backlash and penalty involved. The EPL has already shown it is more of a reactive league than an active one. But now is the time to take control of this situation once and for all, and send the message to players and fans that racial discrimination will be treated with zero tolerance.