British Prime Minister David Cameron’s comments about Luis Suarez have left a bitter taste in the mouths of some at Liverpool soccer club.
The team’s brass accused the Football Association of caving to political pressure when it suspended Suarez 10 games on Wednesday.
When asked about the incident between Liverpool and Chelsea in which Suarez bit opponent Branislav Ivanovic, Cameron said he was “bitterly disappointed.”
“It would be very understandable if the panel took into account that high-profile players are often role models,” Cameron told BBC Live 5 radio show.
It became even more complicated when deputy prime minister Nick Clegg offered his opinions, saying he also supported a stringent, 10-match ban.
That prompted Liverpool manager Brendan Rogers to cry foul; saying his leading scorer never had a chance of fair punishment.
“It is human nature,” he told the Guardian. “If you have people reading and listening to things for 24 hours, like it was, then there is no doubt that when they sat down on Wednesday morning for the first time to supposedly talk about it, I think people would argue whether they already had a decision in their minds.”
Cameron maintained the FA makes its own decisions without undue influence.
“I made my own views clear, just as a dad watching the game,” Cameron said, according to the BBC.
“I have a seven-year-old son who loves football, loves watching football and when players behave like this, it sets the most appalling example to young people in our country.”
Suarez, for his part, said today he won’t be appealing the decision.
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