Jamie Carragher Opens Up on Luis Suarez and Patrice Evra Incident After Vinicius Jr Racism Row

In a recent Champions League broadcast, Jamie Carragher reflected on Liverpool's mishandling of the 2011 racism scandal involving Luis Suarez and Patrice Evra, drawing parallels to the alleged racist abuse faced by Real Madrid's Vinicius Jr from Benfica's Gianluca Prestianni.[3][4]

The incident occurred during a Premier League match when Suarez, found guilty by the Football Association of using racist language toward Manchester United's Evra—including calling him "black" and saying "I don't speak to blacks"—received an eight-game ban.[1][2] Liverpool's response drew widespread criticism: players, including then-vice-captain Carragher, and manager Kenny Dalglish wore supportive "Suarez" shirts in warm-up before their next game against Wigan, and Suarez refused to shake Evra's hand at Old Trafford.[1]

Carragher admitted on the CBS Sports panel alongside Thierry Henry and Micah Richards: "We've got this horribly wrong at Liverpool... It took a long time for us inside our club to accept we got this badly wrong." He recalled apologizing to Evra years later on a TV show, with Liverpool following suit via a personal letter from CEO Peter Moore in 2019, which Evra called "touching."[3][5]

The discussion was prompted by Vinicius Jr reporting Prestianni for racist abuse during Real Madrid's win over Benfica, halting play for 10 minutes per UEFA rules. UEFA launched an investigation, with potential 10-match bans for guilty parties. Jose Mourinho faced backlash for suggesting Vinicius incited the crowd, while teammates like Kylian Mbappe and Trent Alexander-Arnold condemned the abuse as a "disgrace to football."[4]

Carragher hopes Benfica, like Liverpool eventually did, apologizes if findings confirm the allegations, emphasizing football's need to confront racism head-on.[3] Evra, a five-time Premier League winner, has long advocated against discrimination in the sport.[1]

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