On a day, when a jury found Stephen Lawrence’s perpetrators guilty of murder in a hate crime committed 18 years ago following a long convoluted saga which saw landmark reforms of the Metropolitan Police and the legal process, the stance taken by Kenny Dalglish and Liverpool disavowing Luis Suarez’s undeniable racial abuse towards Patrice Evra stood in stark contrast.
Much of the Lawrence case exposed a lock step bias in the police force which was guilty of failing to follow leads and evidence suppression leading the five murder suspects to go free. The thorough manner with which the FA’s independent commission investigated the Suarez vs Evra flashpoint casts Liverpool in a very poor light.
As one of the storied English franchises and a global sporting institution followed by millions, the club is in a unique position to lead by example. This was a golden opportunity but Liverpool did not do any justice to itself by choosing to close ranks around Suarez thus washing out the larger message of racism.