LONDON: While pleased Luis Suarez is back in action following a biting ban, Liverpool is still concerned about the damage the striker caused for the club's brand globally.
The 10-match suspension for biting Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic
during a game in April came after Suarez had been banned for eight games
after racially abusing Manchester United's Patrice Evra in 2011.
"Any types of incident of that nature are damaging to a brand," Liverpool managing director Ian Ayre said on Thursday.
Suarez returned to action in a 1-0 loss to Manchester United in the League Cup on Wednesday, although the Uruguay striker hoped not to be playing in a Liverpool shirt again.
Throughout the offseason, rather than focusing on repairing his image,
Suarez was publicly pushing for a transfer away from Liverpool in search
of Champions League football. Liverpool, though, was steadfast in
rejecting bids from Arsenal for the Uruguay international and put him
through a rehabilitation process to try and ensure there are no further
incidents that harm the club.
"Luis is a footballer, he's a street fighter, he's a larger-than-life character," Ayre said at the Sport Industry Group Breakfast Club in London.
"Nobody is condoning any bad behavior but it's just something you have
to deal with. He is what he is, he is the character he is, and we have
to try and harness that.
"We have worked a lot with Luis since
the last incident with Ivanovic and he has responded well to that. He
has been prepared to commit to that sort of work on his character."
While Ayre said Suarez's misdemeanors haven't hit sponsorship revenue,
the 121-year-old club wants to ensure its principles are upheld.
"We are very much an institution and we base ourselves on family
values, and when your kids are naughty you tell them off and you try to
teach them the error of your ways _ it's no different," Ayre said.
"Every time you have a negative issue like that particular one then of
course it's damaging, but the important thing is to put it right and
restore the integrity of the football club. And I believe that's what we
did."
The club and its American ownership backed Suarez after
the racist-abuse verdict, hitting out at the English Football
Association process.
After Suarez sunk his teeth into Ivanovic
during a Premier League game in April, Liverpool immediately condemned
the player's actions, while still claiming he was being victimized with
his hefty sanction.
But Liverpool, whose principal owner is sports tycoon John Henry, has learnt lessons from how it handled the Suarez cases.
"What's important at those times is to ensure we act respectively and
professionally as a football club, and in the past we've got some of
that wrong and more recently we got that right," Ayre said.
"We
have a process now," he added. "It's not a Luis Suarez process _ it's a
process for any crisis whether it's on the pitch or off the pitch."
For now, Suarez is back helping Liverpool's bid to return to the top four and qualify for the Champions League again.
"I'm here to help the team and help Liverpool and I'll try my best," Suarez said after the game at Old Trafford.
And Ayre was glad to see him back "terrorizing defenders."
"He is a great team member," Ayre said. "The players are supportive of
him and he is supportive of them. The most important thing is that he is
on the football pitch, and most importantly committed to playing for
Liverpool.
One of the big holes in the Mumbai arsenal, Sachin Tendulkar's poor form, might not be as big a worry anymore after he hit a 31-ball 35 against T&T in the semifinal. Along the way, he also became the 16th man to score 50,000 runs in recognised cricket. "We're all thrilled for Sachin. It's good to make 50,000 runs ... maybe a few more," smiled Wright after the semis.
