Friday, December 23, 2011

British game can be a culture shock for the likes of Liverpool's Luis Suarez, says Wigan boss Roberto Martinez

Wigan Athletic manager Roberto Martinez has described how the Premier League and the British game can be a 'culture shock' for foreign players in the wake of Liverpool striker Luis Suarez's suspension and fine for racially insulting Manchester United defender Patrice Evra.

The Spaniard outlined how things seen as acceptable in other parts of the world can cause offence in British football, and vice versa.

'I can tell you many examples of this as a player when I came over which I felt many things were offensive to me but here they were a joke,' Martinez told reporters.'Opposite I did things which were very offensive here but for me it was something normal in my country so I can understand the situation from the outside.
'It is difficult to comment on that particular incident [Suarez and Evra] but in general you arrive to the British game and it is a culture shock.
'Believe me there is no right or wrong in understanding your culture.
'You are seen doing something wrong and you don't think you are doing anything wrong because your background and your culture and the way you live back in your country it is nothing wrong.'
Martinez added that the Football Association needed to find the right balance between upholding the rules and values of the British game and understanding different cultures.
'The problem is where you draw the line,' he said.
'We are playing in England and you need to understand what is right and wrong but you need to understand cultures bring a little bit of misunderstanding if it is an honest mistake.'
The 38-year-old used Wigan defender Antolin Alcaraz's spitting suspension as an example and emphasised the need to identify genuinely malicious actions.
'We had an incident when one of our defenders spat at a player and back in his country it is a bad as swearing at someone,' he said.
'He understands now that is wrong here. We had to pay the penalty and you need to understand and you need to learn but it is important you pay the penalty and accept the punishment but you have to understand it is not malicious.'

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