Liverpool and Luis Suarez have been told by a leading anti-racism executive to drop their appeal against the striker's ban for racially abusing Patrice Evra.

The FA handed the Uruguay international an eight-match ban and £40,000 fine for a supposed racist slur against the Manchester United defender, but the Merseyside side are ready to contest the decision.

Despite this, Piara Powar, the executive director of Football Against Racism in Europe, believes that The Reds should accept the punishment.

"The Football Association's published judgment from the Suarez-Evra incident is welcome," Powar told The Guardian.

"It appears the FA have taken their time to initiate a process that was both fair in its implementation of football rules and in accordance with the principles of British justice. As an international non-governmental organisation we think the investigation and judgment sets the bar for governing bodies globally.

"Racial abuse between players on the field of play has been an unspoken taboo for too long, an area that has been unsatisfactorily dealt with by English football despite many cases over the past 10 years. Luis Suarez and Liverpool FC have the right to appeal, however we would call on the club to think again about their public campaign to dispute the charges and contest the principles involved in the case.

"As a club with a good international standing the vehemence of their campaign is unquestionably causing them reputational harm," he concluded.

By Gareth McKnight

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