Agent: Suarez will appeal ban

LIVERPOOL striker Luis Suarez will appeal his eight-game ban for racially abusing Patrice Evra, according to his lawyer.

Alejandro Balbi, who is also Suarez’s agent, said his player was “convinced” the punishment would be reversed. Suarez was handed the ban and £40,000 fine after he used “insulting words in reference to Manchester United defender Evra’s colour”.

“It seems to us absolutely out of proportion,” Balbi said.

“It’s one of the hardest sanctions handed down in English football. He [Suarez] is firmly convinced this hard sanction can be reversed.”

However, speaking at a news conference in Uruguay capital Montevideo, Balbi admitted Liverpool’s lawyers would have the final say on whether or not to appeal.

Liverpool’s lawyers will comb through the written verdict of the independent regulatory commission and are not expected to receive the full paperwork for at least another couple of days.

Once the document is in their hands the 14-day period which the club then have to launch an appeal begins.

Should they decide to appeal the matter, there is a possibility the length of the ban could be increased.

Meanwhile, Liverpool defender Daniel Agger insisted football remains the most important matter for the players despite their very public show of solidarity for team-mate Luis Suarez.

The whole squad issued a joint statement prior to Wednesday night’s goalless draw at Wigan pledging their support for the Uruguay international.

Liverpool’s players also took to the field for their warm-up wearing t-shirts featuring Suarez’s image on the front and his name and number seven on the back.

The club, who issued a hard-hitting statement criticising the FA’s handling of Suarez’s case, have adopted a siege mentality since judgement was passed on Tuesday.

Agger said while the players fully backed Suarez in his attempts to clear his name they still had to focus on their day job.

“That is not on our mind. We are playing football and that is most important, we don’t think about that stuff,” said the Denmark international.

“The squad is together, that is the way it is. It [support for Suarez] has never been in doubt. Of course it is second nature to back our friend but the most important thing is to win football games – it just wasn’t a big success at Wigan.”

Liverpool goalkeeper Jose Reina believes Suarez, who was targeted with chants of “racist” and “cheat” at the DW Stadium, has been severely treated.

“We are all right behind him. He has our full support,” said the Spain international. We made a statement and we said what we thought was the truth. We were together from the very first minute (of the allegations) and it is the minimum we can do for him.

“I am 100% sure he is not racist. We showed our support to Luis. We want him and everyone to know we are right behind our team-mate because he is a lovely guy and he has been crucified by some people and it is not fair.

“Eight games is not even close to being fair.”

Reina said the threat of losing Suarez for an extended period would be a blow but felt the player was coping well with the situation.

“The most important thing is he is doing his job for the team,” added the goalkeeper. “He played well for the team (against Wigan) and he has to keep playing and help the team as much as he can. Obviously we are going to enjoy him as long as we can and then we will see what happens.”

The attacking dimension Suarez adds up front will be sorely missed should his ban be enforced as even with him in the team Liverpool are struggling to score goals. They dominated the opening 20 minutes against Wigan with Charlie Adam, Jordan Henderson, Dirk Kuyt and Glen Johnson all having good chances to open the scoring.

But Latics came back at them and after Adam saw his 50th-minute penalty saved by Ali Al Habsi it was the home side who threatened to break the deadlock.

For a team who have scored just 20 times in 17 Barclays Premier League matches it was another difficult time in front of goal and maintaining the top-flight’s best defensive record (just 13 conceded) was little consolation.

“It is a frustrating night because we went there for a win,” added Agger.

“I think we had the better, more clear chances. We are just not finishing the games.

“The good thing about football is there is always another chance (at home to Blackburn on St Stephen’s Day) and we have to be more clinical in that game.”