AS readers of this column – I know of at least three, though one includes yours truly – will be aware, I am a Liverpool FC fan.

My wife says not only do I bleed red, but probably the marrow in my bones is that same vibrant hue. She has had close on 30 years to put up with my Anfield obsession.

Supporting the Reds for nigh on five decades has accorded me far more joy than hurt, though Heysel (us to blame) and Hillsborough (others to blame but still lamentably unpunished) have left an indelible shadow on the heart.

Now the club is in the news again after star striker Luis Suarez was found guilty of a racist slur on Manchester United’s French international defender Patrice Evra in a hotly-contested clash.

The Uruguayan international, who it is understood, admitted using the word “negrito” towards Evra, has been banned for eight matches and fined £40,000.

As yet, a full explanation as to how and why the punishment was reached has not been made public. It needs to be to aid transparency.

Liverpool FC as a club, players, management and supporters have in the main cried “foul” in the most shrill and defiant terms.

But to be honest, and even though I regard Suarez as the most talented forward at the club since Robbie Fowler, and the closest to Anfield’s greatest player, Kenny Dalglish, I expected the punishment on Suarez to have been far more swingeing.

I suspect the FA has been looking for such a case to pin its colours to, especially given how the FA has vehemently raged against racist taunts and insults against black players representing either the nation, or their various clubs, in World Cup, European Championship or European club competition.

Even without such circumstances, as guardians of the game and protectors of football’s often-tarnished name, the FA is duty-bound – indeed, all the football industry is both duty and morally-bound – to bear down on racism.

So given that, I feared our most explosive front-man would be banned for the rest of the season.

It has been reported Suarez told the three-man commission, of which former York City manager Denis Smith was a member, he had indeed used the offending word in the clash against Manchester United.

Mitigation appears to have revolved around the cultural nuances of Suarez’s native South America, where, it is alleged, such a term is common-place.

But the 24-year-old player plies his trade here in England, where not only is racism regarded by the majority of society as despicable, but is also a criminal offence.

It does not matter a jot that such a word may be more acceptable elsewhere. The fact is that if Suarez has used it, it can have been in no other context but to remark on the colour of Evra’s skin.

And, if such a phrase is in so regular use in Latin America, then why has it not cropped up on these shores before among the legion of Brazilian, Argentinean, Uruguayan, Honduran, Mexican, or Ecuadorian players who have taken to the thrilling fields of England?

Within hours of the decision to penalise Suarez – the ban and fine will not kick in until the 14 days in which to appeal have elapsed – he was back in the red shirt in a Premier League match at Wigan.

What saddened me then was how, in an unequivocal show of support for Suarez, the squad and manager sported tee-shirts with the striker’s image on the front and his number “7” on the back.

I have no problem with a club circling the wagons around a player. I remember when Jan Molby was imprisoned on a drink-driving offence that Liverpool then did not heed siren calls for him to be sacked. They stood by their player, who, after serving his sentence, returned to the club to star again.

But those particular tee-shirts cocked a snook at what the Suarez sentence was about.

He has been found guilty of using a racist remark, and while he may not be a racist, it is an insult to the domestic game’s own “Let’s Kick Racism Out” campaign.

Some might wonder whether Liverpool would withdraw from such an initiative.

I know they won’t – remember, my club has always upheld a proud tradition of welcoming all players from all over the globe. Indeed, this is the club, which, in its infancy, revelled in being called “Mac-Liverpool” in honour of the many Scots it first employed.

The days are now not only ticking down to a New Year, but also on the deadline to appeal.

But I would implore my club, my Liverpool and my number “7” to accept the punishment, issue an apology and try to mend fences rather than erect a divisive siege mentality barrier.