Liverpool will have the backing of the Uruguayan football association to help Luis Suárez fight the allegations of racial abuse that have left him open to a long ban and reinforced Kenny Dalglish's view that the authorities are threatening to "walk all over us".
Suárez, who denies the allegations and will plead not guilty, returned from international duty to go straight into talks with Dalglish, Liverpool's manager, about the FA's decision to charge him. Dalglish reiterated that the striker has the club's backing and has been informed that the Uruguayan authorities believe he is innocent. Officials in Montevideo want the help of the Uruguay embassy in London to back Suárez's argument that the words Patrice Evra reported would not be considered offensive in parts of South America.
The semantics will be crucial to the issue, with Dalglish maintaining his view that the player does not deserve to face FA charges of using "abusive and insulting words" including "a reference to the ethnic origin and colour or race" of the Senegal-born Evra.
"I don't think there is any doubt that any player at this football club who finds themselves in a bit of a bad time is always going to be well looked after by the people here," Dalglish said. "That is a given for this club."
The Liverpool manager, repeatedly citing the club's statement that are "fully supportive of Luis", wants the process to be completed "quickly but correctly", and there was a clear sense of a siege mentality building behind the scenes at Anfield.
Dalglish, prickly and keeping his answers deliberately short, has already railed against what he considers to be a string of contentious refereeing decisions against his team and has been incensed by the "disgraceful" scheduling that sees them play a Carling Cup quarter-final against Chelsea on 29 November, only 48 hours after their Premier League game against Manchester City. The Suárez issue has merely compounded Dalglish's view that Liverpool is not getting any help from the authorities.
"Most of the time you don't want to say anything but, if you don't say anything, they'll walk all over you," he said. "They might still walk all over us anyway but you've got to justify yourself, you've got to have an opinion and you've got to make a statement of a belief you've got.
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