Racism in football? Suarez: 8 match ban, Ferdinand: £45k fine

Ferdinand refusing to shake Suarez’s hands just months before “choc ice” tweet
In an incredible piece of decision making, our beloved Football Association trumped itself again today by handing out a mere £45,000 fine to Manchester Utd defender Rio Ferdiand for a comment made on Twitter.

Ferdinand had, by responding positively to a tweet by another user, described Chelsea defender Ashley Cole as a “choc ice” – a term meaning a black person who is black on the outside, but white on the inside.

@rioferdy5 haha choc ice yeah thats a classic

John Amaechi, a former NBA basketball player, psychologist and educator says the term is “a deeply offensive term with racial connotations… It’s a highly derogatory term.”

Ferdinand’s tweet was broadcast around the world within seconds of its publication.

Last season, the FA banned Liverpool’s Luis Suarez for eight matches for using what it had deemed a racist term towards Manchester Utd defender Patrice Evra in a Premier League game. Suarez was also fined £40,000 and vilified by the British media.

The independent commission has defended its decision to only fine Ferdinand, and not to impose a ban by concluding that the use of the term “choc ice” did not make Ferdinand a racist.

Maybe so, but the FA’s report on Suarez last season also concluded, along with the support of Evra himself, that Suarez is not a racist.

Time for the FA to answer some questions over their handling of Uruguayan international Luis Suarez and former England international Rio Ferdinand? Or should that be Liverpool player Suarez and Man Utd player Ferdiand? Or time for the media to sweep this under the rug again?

One tweeter reacted to the news with:

@REDinLA British Government must interfere and clamp down on @FA.Enough is enough!!They crucify @luis16suarez and now this?

Read what fans are saying about this in our Liverpool FC Forums.

For more information on the Let’s Kick Racism Out Of Football campaign, click here.

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