Soccer

Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION

Liverpool striker apologizes for pre-match snub

By: Staff Writer

Posted: 02/13/2012 1:00 AM | Comments: 0 (including replies)

Luis Suarez (CP)

LONDON -- Luis Suarez apologized Sunday for snubbing Patrice Evra in a pre-match handshake as Liverpool publicly condemned the striker for the first time in a long-running racism row that has tarnished the name of one of England's biggest clubs.

The Uruguay international was widely criticized for failing to shake Evra's hand before Saturday's Premier League game at Old Trafford in the players' first meeting since Suarez was banned for eight matches for racially abusing the United defender in October.

Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish, who passionately defended Suarez in a post-match television interview, and the club's American owners also found themselves under fire from critics who claimed the incident had reignited the racism storm that has blighted the English game this season.

However, Suarez, whose career has been littered with controversies, acknowledged he "made a mistake and I regret what happened."

"I have spoken with the manager since the game at Old Trafford and I realize I got things wrong," Suarez said in a statement released on Liverpool's official website. "I've not only let him down, but also the club and what it stands for and I'm sorry."

Dalglish also apologized Sunday for his confrontational manner during that interview, in which he said critics were "bang out of order" for heaping blame on Suarez for subsequent events in an ill-tempered game between England's two most successful clubs.

-- The Associated Press

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition February 13, 2012 C6

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