“10 games is absurd, excessive and unfair” – Reina

Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina has defended team-mate Luis Suarez and claimed the Uruguayan is treated differently by the Football Association and media in England.

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Reina says that there is hypocrisy and questioned the fairness of decisions.

Speaking on Spanish radio station COPE, Reina said:

“They treat Suárez differently, because he’s Uruguayan. He knows what he did is wrong, but 10 games is absurd, excessive and unfair.”

“Those [from the FA] who are making decisions lately are using Luis [Suárez] as a scapegoat.”

“Some get 4 games for racism and others 8. Where is the fairness?”

“Whoever knows Suárez knows he’s a great team-mate. He’s aggressive on the pitch, and that sometimes plays a dirty trick on him.”

Reina was asked about the media in England:

“In England many media are very, very, very, very, and I stress it, very hypocritical.”

Asked about the difference between the Suarez incident with Ivanovic, and Jermaine Defoe’s bite on Javier Mascherano in 2006, Reina said:

“They said it was a refereed incident. Anyway, they were other times, I guess… He was an English player, I guess.”

He was then asked whether he thought it was xenophobic:

“Xenophobia in England? (thinks) There’s hypocrisy, I don’t know if xenophobia. I’m very happy here. They’ve treated me very well.”

Liverpool will decide on Thursday whether to appeal the ban, something they have been advised against doing, after they receive the written reasons from The FA.

Translations via @ecanalla .

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