For sometime now, hell has been loose on the Uruguayan and Liverpool lead talisman, Luis Suarez. Major media houses in England, including The Sun, The Mirror, Daily Mail newspapers have repeatedly cursed the world class footballer calling him “a Cheat”, “Super diver” and all sorts of disgrace.
For sometime now, hell has been loose on the Uruguayan and Liverpool lead talisman, Luis Suarez. Major media houses in England, including The Sun, The Mirror, Daily Mail newspapers have repeatedly cursed the world class footballer calling him "a Cheat”, "Super diver” and all sorts of disgrace.At first, Suarez was crucified to 8 games ban last season, Plus 20,000 Pounds fine on alleged racial abuse to France international and Manchester United skipper Patrice Evra. Yet when John Terry, an England international then and Chelsea skipper committed the same offense, at first he was exonerated and later convicted but subjected to only 4 games ban! The ruling is still pending final appeal verdict. Do punishments vary depending on the convict’s nationality? Indeed I agree with former Football Association chairman Lord Triesman: "If it’s not half as bad, how come it’s half the ban?When you read these biased media coverage of the Reds’ star, you get the impression that Suarez’s case is the single unique taboo, either within the British football fraternity or in Europe generally.But many credible and world class players, including former England international and Stoke striker, Michael Owen, Real Madrid ace Christian Ronaldo and many others in Britain and Europe have confessed to "diving more than once” hoping to win or won penalties.And Manchester United’s striker, Welbeck recently dived in the box against Newcastle and successfully conned the referee for a penalty.So why has the Saurez fracas raged on for two weeks in the British media? When some British media academics come to Africa and give lectures on professional ethics, impartiality, accurate information dissemination excreta, you may think British citizens leave in the biblical "Garden Eden”!Ironically, the Suarez hunt campaign coincides with recent revelations about the role of notorious media houses- The Sun and Daily Mail in telling lies intentionally, to deflect blame from South Yorkshire police onto Hillsborough victims. For readers unfamiliar with this, the Hillsborough disaster was a human crush which occurred during the FA Cup semi-final match between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest at a neutral venue on 15 April 1989 at the Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield, England. The venue was selected by the English FA management.Liverpool fans were allocated the Leppings Lane stand, accessed by a limited number of turnstiles. As the entry point became overcrowded before kick-off, police ordered an exit gate to be opened, allowing supporters to enter a tunnel leading directly to two enclosures.The ensuing influx of host’s supporters caused crushing and some fans climbed over side fences to escape. Moments after kick-off, a crush barrier broke and fans began to fall on top of each other. The infamous game was stopped after only six minutes.The Report casts doubt over original inquest rulings, revealing that 41 of the 96 Liverpool fans "had the potential to survive” if the police on duty had been impartial and diligent. The incident resulted in the deaths of 96 people and injuries to 766 others. The disaster remains the worst stadium-related disaster in British history and one of the world’s worst football disasters of world.The 116 of 164 police statements were ‘amended to remove or alter comments unfavourable to South Yorkshire police and the sensational media, including Kelvin MacKenzie, the Sun editor who wrote the infamous headline ‘The Truth’ on the front page story blaming fans.There were several ‘profuse apologies’ with both the notorious headlines at the time and the "corrected versions” when the Hillsborough Independent Inquiry Commission came up with the naked truth about the treachery of police and media accomplices. The bottom-line is that the very egocentric personalities at the English Football Association echelons are using their infamous media and other maneuvers to belittle Liverpool FC and frustrate the world class player, who is a threat to defenses in English competitions.I’m not saying diving shouldn’t be condemned. It’s bad manners and unprofessional but it’s a common practice and should be fought impartially. When the FIFA bigwig Vice-President Jim Boyce jumps on the hate wagon against an individual player, I smell a rat.It’s against FIFA governing law for officials of Boyce’s caliber to make such comments on individual players.Yet the shameless Jim Boyce said: "Diving is a cancer, I have seen several incidents recently and I saw the latest Suarez incident”. He has seen "several” but preferred to rash his venom on the poor Uruguayan.As earlier opined, I have no doubt whatsoever, that if Suarez had been a player for Manchester United, he wouldn’t have attracted the notorious media attention.Yes. Because it’s now an open secret that FA management any anybody with the mandate MUST pay special privilege to the Red Devils for success. Conversely, the Merseyside icon would have won more than the three genuine spot shots he has been denied had he been playing for the Red Devils. This is all because the club is a glory to Her Majesty the Queen of United Kingdom and entire loyal family.