Former Liverpool star John Barnes hits out at Luis Suarez racism 'witch hunt'
The retired Reds midfielder suffered numerous incidents of racial abuse throughout his career but insisted that cultural differences need to be taken into account in this case
Former Liverpool star John Barnes has branded the Luis Suarez racism case a 'witch hunt' after the Uruguayan forward was banned for eight games for using 'insulting language'.
The former England international endured racial abuse throughout his time as a player but has defended the Uruguayan insisting, "cultural differences have to be taken into consideration".
Barnes told BBC Radio Merseyside: "From a cultural point of view, [Suarez] has been backed by people from Uruguay saying the word he used is not deemed as a racist term.
"As much as we will say that ignorance is no excuse, ignorance is an excuse.
"Twenty years ago in England, the same people in England now condemning him were ignorant as to what racism is. Why don't they condemn themselves?"
The 48-year-old went on to say that whilst discrimination of any kind should be punished, there needs to be rules put in place to ensure consistency.
He said: "When Manchester United play Liverpool and 10,000 United fans are saying 'you Scouse thieves', I'd like them all to be banned.
"And Liverpool fans too, when they say 'you Manc or whatever'. So where are we going to draw the line? Racism has to be zero tolerance but this is now a witch hunt.
"By admitting [what he said], he obviously didn't feel that what he said was that significant.
"Because he could easily have gotten away with it by saying 'I never said a word'." - http://www.goal.com
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