Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson has spoken out on the incident with Arsenal’s Gabriel for the first time.
The two players clashed during Arsenal and Liverpool’s meeting at the Emirates on October 9, in which the Gunners saw out a tightly contested 3-2 win.
It was a fiery 90 minutes as both teams knew the importance of the three points. Liverpool came from behind to level the scoring twice before a 76th-minute penalty converted by Bukayo Saka secured the victory for the North London side.
During the penalty decision’s objections, Henderson appeared to have a heated alteration with the Brazilian that causes both players’ teammates to get involved. It was announced post-match that the Football Association would be investigating a comment made towards Gabriel by Henderson. Speculation began to circle social media about what exactly had been said.
At the end of the month, the FA confirmed they were dropping the case with no further action taken.
Henderson breaks silence
The England international told Daily Mail: “I understand why I have to be asked about this, but what I tried to do was respect the process. I have spoken before about black players being brave enough to speak out about discrimination so I couldn’t then change my stance. I still feel I need to show respect now, even though it’s been dealt with.
“I’ve let the FA do what they needed to do and I still feel it wouldn’t be right for me to speak about it. It is just as important to respect the process afterwards as it is during the case. I could speak to you all day about how I was feeling but I have to accept what happened and move on. By the way, that wasn’t easy.
“There were a million and one things I wanted to say — emotional things — but I think it would have been wrong. It has not changed my mind that people must be empowered to come forward if they feel they have been wronged. It has changed my thoughts a little bit about the person who has been accused but if people feel they have been discriminated against, they must come forward.
“It would not be right for me to sit here and say how hard it was for me, because there is another person involved as well. It has been dealt with and it was another learning experience in my life.”
Like many issues in football, this one has been “dealt with” and therefore should be over and done with.