Barcelona attacker Luis Suarez has stated that he does not mind being referred to as a “biter or a diver”, but insists that he is not a racist, despite being banned for eight games in 2011 for abusing Manchester United's Patrice Evra while at Liverpool.
Although Suarez acknowledges that he was wrong in biting Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovich in April 2013 and Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini at the World Cup in June, he maintains his innocence over the incident involving himself and Evra.
"Call me a biter or a diver, but I'm not a racist. I was banned for eight games and, much worse, got labelled a racist for life. It’s a serious accusation," the Guardian reveals in an extract from the attacker's new book.
"It hurts because of how it affects me, it hurts because my wife had to suffer too through the hearing, watching me getting accused of being someone she knows I’m not, and it hurts because in the future the stain will still be there when my children grow up. It’s a slur on my name that no one can take away.
"Did I use the Spanish word 'negro' in an argument that took place, in Spanish, with Patrice Evra on 15 October 2011 in a game between Liverpool and Manchester United?
"Yes.
"Is the word 'negro' the same in Spanish as it is in English?
"No, absolutely not.
"Am I a racist?
"No, absolutely not.
"I was horrified when I first realised that is what I was being accused of. And I’m still sad and angry to think that this is a stain on my character that will probably be there forever."
Suarez made his official Barcelona debut at the weekend in the 3-1 defeat at the hands of Real Madrid after serving his four-month ban.
