Meanwhile the murky world of football has scored an own-goal with the revelation that Liverpool player Luis Suarez bites his opponents and that his team management, and his fans, think the 10-match ban for the biting imposed by the FA is too harsh.

The incident has polarised opinion with some claiming that his footballing skills should absolve him from punishment for his occasional lapses and others that the FA should eat his liver with fava beans and a nice Chianti.

It is presumably open to other football clubs, perhaps more morally aware than Liverpool, to refuse to play a Liverpool line-up that includes Suarez. Question is, would the FA back them if they did?