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VIEW: Jason Roberts

LIVERPOOL MUST think “long and hard” about their support of footballer Luis Suarez because it could damage their reputation, insists Blackburn striker Jason Roberts.

Suarez, 24, was banned for eight games by the Football Association for racially abusing Patrice Evra during a 1-1 draw between Liverpool and Manchester United in October, an action that the Mersey Side club has fiercely opposed.

An active campaigner against racism in the game Roberts told BBC Sport: "Liverpool's stance of saying he's done nothing wrong goes against the spirit of our league. When you read the report, it's quite ugly.

"They are a proud club with lots of fans of different cultures and nationalities and it's important to think about how they would feel about being treated in the same way.”

Despite wearing t-shirts in support of the player at the Wigan football match on December 22 Liverpool decided yesterday not to appeal against the ban but instead issued a statement saying that the FA has damaged Suarez’s reputation.

Liverpool has defended the strikers action saying that the term “negro” is commonly used in Uruguay, the country of the footballer’s birth, but Roberts does not believe that excuse suffices: "It's not good enough to say, 'It's OK where I come from, so we do it here'. That's not the way we judge our society or the Premier League. They were ugly scenes and I'm worried that kids would have seen this.

"This is something that has to be told to everyone - it's not tolerated, especially in our