Brighton manager Gus Poyet has maintained his defence of fellow Uruguayan Luis Suarez saying he would go to court to prove the Liverpool striker is not a racist.
Suarez was charged by the Football Association earlier this week for allegedly racially abusing Manchester United defender Patrice Evra during the Reds' 1-1 draw last month. The Merseyside club say their player will deny the charge at a personal hearing and they remain "fully supportive" of him.
Poyet is confident that Suarez should not have a case to answer and, after accusing Evra of "crying like a baby", he continued to back his countryman, telling TalkSPORT: "I know Luis very well and I will go to court if someone wants to prove he's not racist."
He added: "I can assure you and everyone Luis is not a racist. We use different words and it is a different kind of situation.
"We live in Uruguay with plenty of people who have different colour skin. We all live together and play football together. What hurts me the most is that you accuse someone. Luis Suarez has been accused of being a racist."
Poyet believes Suarez's comments have been taken out of context because of cultural differences between England and South America.
Suarez moved to England in January following his transfer to Liverpool and Poyet - who has lived in the UK for 14 years - believes the 24-year-old striker should be cut some slack because racism is perceived differently in his homeland.
"You cannot accuse people without a proper investigation, especially when it's a foreigner who is coming from a different place where we treat people of colour in a different way," he said.
"So it was very easy to accuse someone. Luis Suarez is 100% not a racist. You are not racist when you go against one, but [you are] if you go against the whole world of different colour and nationalities. That is being racist, not saying one word in one moment.
"If that's what you want, fair enough. I take it and accept it. I had to behave in a different way because I've been in England for 13 years. So I know what you are like and I adapt to that. Give Suarez another six months and I think he'll be how you want him to be."
Source: PA
