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Football has fought a long campaign to fight prejudice in the game, but the reaction of two clubs to recent allegations has been shortsighted and damaging

The pictures above were taken less than five months apart. The first shows Liverpool lining up before their pre-season friendly against Valerenga on 1 August, the players holding aloft signs reading “Show Racism the Red Card”, a response to the shooting and bombing attack by the far-right gunman Anders Behring Breivik that killed 77 Norwegians, most of them teenagers, last July.

The second is part of the club’s officially sanctioned public response to the decision by the FA’s independent tribunal to ban Luis Suárez for eight games after finding him guilty of racially abusing Manchester’s United’s Patrice Evra. The contrast is extreme, the contexts, admittedly, make for a risible comparison. But somewhere between these images is a fault line down which the disconnect between football’s flagship position as a beacon against racism in British society, and what actually happens when a major institution is confronted with evidence of such behaviour in its own ranks, has tumbled this week.

It is probably no more than the coincidence of random events that sees two high-profile cases of alleged racial abuse played out alongside each other. Suárez and the accusations against Chelsea’s John Terry are separate if similar incidents and using one to predict the outcome of the other is a speculative dead end. What does and should bear comparison, however, is how both have been handled by the clubs involved from the moment the accusations became public, and how this squares with what has been a consistent and laudable campaign by virtually the entire body politic of British football to eradicate racism, sectarianism and, latterly, Islamophobia from its ranks over the last 20 years.

As its players became rich beyond imagination, as its core fanbase found itself priced out of gleaming stadiums, as the oligarchs snaffled up clubs for fun, as the ability to watch games on television was closed to those unwilling to pay through the nose, football’s publicity machine has required a narrative to shield it from well-founded charges that the game’s values have descended to little more than a brazen assault on the pockets of a captive fanbase.

Most big clubs run well-established charitable programmes and star players, largely enthusiastically, make themselves available for various hospital visits or publicity events for community projects. But against charges of increased alienation from normal society, football has had need of a well-structured counter-narrative. It is little exaggeration to say that in the past decade, anti-racism campaigns have formed the principal plank of the game’s efforts to present itself as a force for cohesion and solidarity in the often uneasy melting pot of British life.

This is not to deride those efforts as a cynical exercise. The atmosphere inside grounds is unrecognisable from the 1980s, where the sense of incipient violence and exclusionary hostility made attending a football match a dangerous proposition for most people of colour, and black players found abuse from the terraces and the thinly veiled prejudice of coaches a constant adversary. Campaigns such as Kick it Out and Show Racism the Red Card would be justifiably enraged at the notion that they are merely part of a fig-leaf to mollify the perception of football’s deeper

• Liverpool’s Luis Suárez continues to maintain he is innocent
• Patrice Evra said he was abused ‘10 times’

Luis Suárez will learn in the next two days whether he is to become the most high-profile footballer yet to be found guilty of racism.

Suárez’s disciplinary hearing for allegedly abusing Patrice Evra during Manchester United’s 1-1 draw at Liverpool on 15 October began on Wednesday. Liverpool have been informed the Football Association will announce the result , with Suárez and Evra both giving evidence to determine the chain of events that has led to the striker facing a long ban if he is found guilty.

His fate will be decided by a three-man panel chaired by Paul Goulding QC, a specialist member of the FA’s judicial panel since 2008. The other two officials are Brian Jones, the chairman of the Sheffield and Hallamshire FA, and Dennis Smith, the vice-chairman of the Devon FA. A former footballer or manager is usually involved in FA disciplinary hearings but in this case the organisation decided to go against its usual policy.

Goulding specialises in sports cases, representing Jean Tigana in his high court hearing with Fulham, and advising West Ham in their dispute with Reading about Alan Pardew’s appointment.

Evra claims that Suárez used a racist word “at least 10 times”, the United defender making his complaint to the referee directly after the match. Suárez denies the allegations and has been given Liverpool’s full backing as he tries to overturn a case that threatens to have huge ramifications for the club’s season.

The hearing focuses on a disputed version of what was said between the two players, both of whom have offered very differing statements to the FA. If it is a case of one man’s word against another it may count against Evra if he is unable to provide witnesses to back up the charge that Suárez used “abusive and/or insulting words and/or behaviour contrary to FA rules”, including “a reference to the ethnic origin and/or colour and/or race of Patrice Evra”.

Suárez has admitted words were exchanged with Evra, a Senegal-born Frenchman, but the Uruguayan’s defence is understood to point to the nuances of the Spanish language, as well as cultural differences, arguing that what he said would not be considered offensive for someone of his background in South America.

In Uruguay, for example, words such as “negrito” and “negro” are commonly used, with no racist connotation. As yet, however, it is not known what word was used. Evra’s only comments were made in an interview on French television directly after the match when he said that “in 2011 you can’t say things like this … it’s very upsetting and disappointing”.

Liverpool made it clear when Suárez was charged that they “remain fully supportive of Luis” but the FA would be under pressure to impose a considerable ban should the case be proven against him. A precedent was set in 2003 when John Mackie of Reading was banned for eight matches, five of which were suspended, after making racist remarks to Sheffield United striker Carl Asaba. However, Mackie admitted that charge whereas Suárez is denying his, meaning he would almost certainly face tougher sanctions if he were found guilty.

Suárez, Liverpool’s outstanding player so far this season, also has a disciplinary charge hanging over him because of photographs of him appearing to raise his middle finger at Fulham’s supporters during the 1-0 defeat at Craven Cottage this month.

Luis SuárezLiverpoolManchester UnitedDaniel Taylorguardian.co.uk

• Club offer full support to Uruguay striker
• Faces long ban if found guilty of racially abusing Patrice Evra

Luis Suárez faces a racism charge that threatens huge ramifications for the Liverpool striker and his club after the Football Association announced he had a case to answer over Patrice Evra’s allegations he suffered sustained racist abuse during Manchester United’s recent visit to Anfield.

A month after the investigation began, the FA has ruled it has enough evidence to charge Suárez with an offence that, if proven, will lead to a substantial ban. A precedent was set in 2003 when John Mackie of Reading was banned for eight matches, five of which were suspended, after making racist remarks to the Sheffield United striker Carl Asaba. However, Mackie admitted that charge whereas Suárez is denying his, meaning he would almost certainly face tougher sanctions if he were found guilty.

Liverpool responded immediately by announcing that Suárez would plead not guilty, adding that they “remain fully supportive of Luis” in a dispute that threatens to have serious repercussions for the club’s relationship with United.

Evra had complained after the match that he was abused “at least 10 times” and his statement to the FA accuses Suárez of using a Spanish variation of the N-word. Suárez has categorically denied the allegations, saying the words he allegedly used were not offensive or racist, but the FA investigators disagree, charging the Uruguay international with “abusive and/or insulting words and/or behaviour contrary to FA rules”, including “a reference to the ethnic origin and/or colour and/or race of Patrice Evra”.

Within minutes Liverpool had released their own statement to make it clear that Suárez would continue to maintain his innocence. “The club this afternoon received notification from the Football Association of their decision to charge Luis Suárez and will take time to review properly the documentation which has been sent to us.

“We will discuss the matter fully with him when he returns from international duty, but he will plead not guilty to the charge and we expect him to request a personal hearing.

“Luis remains determined to clear his name of the allegation made against him by Patrice Evra. The club remain fully supportive of Luis in this matter.”

The crux of the case appears to depend on whether the FA can prove there was racial intent behind Suárez’s words but it is a complex issue given that in Uruguay it is common practice for people to use derivatives of “negro” in a non-offensive way. “Negrito”, for example, is a word that is often used without being deemed as racist.

However, the fact Suárez and the France international Evra were arguing at the time counts against the Liverpool player and the FA is clearly not satisfied with his first public words on the matter, when he talked last week of it merely being a “way of expressing myself. I called him something his team-mates at Manchester call him, and even they were surprised by his reaction.”

What can be said with certainty is that it represents a major embarrassment for the FA and the Premier League that one of their high-profile players is charged with racism while John Terry, the England captain, is at the centre of a parallel investigation into allegations he racially abused Anton Ferdinand of Queens Park Rangers, eight days after the Suárez-Evra incident.

Liverpool would be compelled to take their own action against Suárez if he were found guilty and their manager, Kenny Dalglish, faces personal embarrassment after steadfastly defending the player over recent weeks, insisting there was no case to answer.

The Anfield club face the possibility that a long, drawn-out dispute could disrupt their season. Suárez has been their best player this season, underlying his ability by scoring all of Uruguay’s goals in a 4-0 defeat of Chile on Saturday.

Evra told French television directly after the match that Suárez had been trying “to wind me up” and that “there are cameras, you can see him say a certain word to me at least 10 times. There is no place for that in 2011.” His manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, who accompanied Evra when he made his complaint to the referee Andre , has submitted a statement as part of the FA investigation.

The FA is acutely aware of the sensitivities between the two clubs and asked them both at the outset not to risk inflaming the situation by discussing it in the media. Privately, United are angry that Suárez and Dalglish have ignored these instructions. The Old Trafford club say they will not make any comment “in accordance with guidance from the authorities”.

Luis SuárezLiverpoolManchester UnitedThe FARace issuesDaniel Taylorguardian.co.uk