PFA chief executive Gordon Taylor has said that the Respect campaign has suffered a major blow after Luis Suarez refused to shake hands with Patrice Evra before Saturday's match between Manchester United and Liverpool.
The campaign was designed to stamp out major problems with the game at all levels, but it has taken a lot of hits so far this season, namely the racism rows between Luis Suarez and Patrice Evra and between John Terry and Anton Ferdinand.
"At the moment, [the Respect campaign] is tainted and you could say it has been shredded," said Taylor.
"But we have got to rebuild. Nobody ever said the battle against racism would be easy."
Speaking in particular about the handshake, Taylor said that the feud between Suarez and Evra is "upsetting".
"We were very much hoping there would handshakes in a proper manner and that we could draw a line under it. Everybody knows what has happened," he said.
"But, if anything, the manner in which it was refused as well, that exacerbated the situation and inflamed the situation.
"It is particularly disappointing and upsetting, of course. It is something we cannot afford to ignore if we are going to succeed with our battle against racism."
Today's match was the first time Suarez and Evra had met since the Uruguayan was banned for eight matches for racially abusing the Frenchman.
Barney Corkhill
