Alas, we have the same question being asked of us all this week, de ja vu much? Does Patrice Evra shake the hand of the punished and the accused Suarez during this weekends exciting clash? Will this overshadow what would arguably be a game of the season type of clash. The answer to the latter is a probable yes!

Well a lot of pundits are suggesting yes and that he should. I am of the inclination, what the heck! This guy racially abused you, he apologized and then took it back, so in theory he didn’t apologize. Would you shake his hand? Not only would I not shake his hand, that sensation he would feel on his backside kicking off in to touch would probably be my foot.

But surely, they are professionals, it’s a simple hand shake and millions are viewers are looking on and judging.
There is plenty of abuse that goes on in the professional game, unseen to the untrained and unexperienced eye (the arm chair fan), but in games you have players threatening to break your legs! Shocked? Yes it happens, and on a regular basis. This is abuse, no? So what was so different about that kind of abuse which in many eyes is just as harsh in comparison to the racial abuse Anton Ferdinand and Patrice Evra received.

Well there is a fine line. In the UK the sports authorities has tried so hard to stamp out racism out of the game. The fine line is that racism is such as sensitive topic, something that has existed for so long and to even harbor the thought makes people squirm. This is the age we live in. Having been on the end of racist abuse, I not only sympathize, I empathize and this is why I am in support of the “not to shake”