FC Barcelona lands Luis Suarez, who, like Lance Armstrong, continues to hide from reality

Earlier this week, the United Kingdom television station Channel 4 broadcast Alex Gibney’s excellent 2013 documentary ‘The Armstrong Lie.’ It opens with a reflective Lance Armstrong on-camera, hours after his interview with Oprah Winfrey in which he had admitted using performance-enhancing drugs to win seven Tour de France titles. Speaking to Gibney, he says:

“This story is all over the place. There are these two complete opposite narratives. The only person that can actually start to let people understand what the true narrative is, is me.”

It’s a neat sound bite. And it tees up the rest of the film. But it’s not the truth. In Armstrong’s mind, there are deep contrasts within his personality: the ruthlessly determined and wildly successful athlete and the drug cheat, the pathological liar. But he was only one because of the other. He wasn’t someone who led a double-life. It was a vicious circle. And so, for it to continue, Armstrong had to accept a version of the truth he was comfortable with. He had to cheat. It wasn’t his fault. He was forced into doing it. If anything, he was a victim. And, there was the struggle with cancer beforehand. The against-all-odds resurrection. Really, he was a hero.

After he was stripped of his Tour de France victories in 2012, Armstrong infamously tweeted a photo of himself in his Texas home, relaxing on a sofa. Above him on the walls were his seven winner’s jerseys from Le Tour. The caption read ‘Back in Austin and just layin’ around…’

There are overlaps between Armstrong and Luis Suarez. Unquestionably, both are talented athletes. Both have done what sports stars are supposed to do: entertain and inspire. But both have brought their respective codes into disrepute. Both will be remembered for their sins rather than their success. And perhaps most damning of all, even when forced to seek forgiveness, their repentance has been involuntary.

Suarez now heads to FC Barcelona, the subject of a $128-million transfer, after a troubled and controversial three years at Liverpool. While there, he racially abused Manchester United defender Patrice Evra and bizarrely sunk his teeth into the arm of Chelsea’s Branislav Ivanovic. The racism case proved particularly uncomfortable for everyone associated with the storied Premier League side.

[Dirty Tackle: Liverpool confirm Luis Suarez move to Barcelona]

After he was suspended for eight games because of his behaviour, Liverpool players wore T-shirts with a picture of Suarez adorning the front of them during one pre-match warm-up. Despite being found guilty of a public order offence, Suarez was backed by his employers. It got worse when Suarez refused to shake Evra’s hand a few months later. The striker had promised club officials he would do it and then changed his mind. Afterwards, then-manager Kenny Dalglish refused to criticize Suarez’s behaviour. In Boston, the club’s owners Fenway Sports Group – who have seen some strange things as custodians of the Red Sox – watched on in disbelief. Dalglish was sacked soon after.

‘The Armstrong Lie’ details one key aspect of the widespread doping culture within cycling: omerta – the code of silent support amongst riders. They took care of their own. When Frankie Andreu testified against Armstrong in 2006, he was shunned and frozen out.

When Suarez self-destructed at the World Cup, inexplicably biting another player, Italian defender Giorgio Chiellini, those around him rallied. His Uruguayan manager Oscar Tabarez spoke of a witch-hunt. The criticism wasn’t aimed at Suarez but at Chiellini, the UK media, FIFA. Many were caught up in the pantomime. Many engaged in omerta. Many protected Suarez without even knowing it. The subsequent punishment, a four-month ban, was hypocrisy, they said. Suarez had been made a scapegoat, they said.

In the aftermath of each misdemeanour, Suarez has denied and dodged. His reputation is such that when he finally apologized for his assault on Chiellini (he had initially said he “hit his face against the player”), the instant response from insiders was to claim an ulterior motive. Barcelona, the club desperate to lure Suarez away from Merseyside, needed him to say sorry before signing him. Barcelona needed him to show humility, to show acceptance, to show that he wasn’t just some weirdly violent athlete. He was a man, imperfect like the rest. An apology would prove that.

And Suarez did it. But, like Armstrong, he is repeatedly peddling a lie. Like Armstrong, he hasn’t changed because he’s still to acknowledge he has a problem.

[STORY: Argentina needed to move past Maradona before moving ahead]

At the end of Gibney’s film, Armstrong says:

“I know what it took to win those tours. Okay, it’s a little more detailed than we were told, than you guys were told, but I know what it took. My teammates know what it took. Those 200-strong peletons over seven years, they know what it took. And they know who won.”

Suarez still has his flag wavers. Those who will reference his humble upbringing in Uruguay as some sort of excuse for his violent tendencies. The edge, they say, is just a sign of determination, of dogged ruthlessness. It’s not.

He will ply his trade with Barcelona and commit more weird fouls and receive more suspensions. The parochial and tribal nature of soccer will ensure he will be protected by those closest to him. And he will always find a sympathetic ear. Soccer lost its moral compass a long time ago and it says much that Suarez has found a new home in Catalonia.

Just a few years ago, Barcelona were the club that stood out from the rest. Everything about it was unique. The seemingly-endless supply of young players from its La Masia academy ensured extravagant spending was left only to their competitors. Even those that got away – Gerard Pique and Cesc Fabregas – were easily enticed back home. Former players were retained in different capacities, deemed intrinsic to the club’s identity and future success. When those dizzying victories arrived, it seemed fuelled by tradition, heritage and pedigree. Unlike other clubs, they didn’t play their games at a sponsored stadium and didn’t carry a gratuitous reference to some gambling website or drinks company on the front of their shirt. Instead, they promoted an international children’s charity, UNICEF.

[Dirty Tackle: Cesar Milan is the Luis Suarez Whisperer]

Things are a little different now. UNICEF’s logo is carried on the lower back of the jersey. Across the front are the words ‘Qatar Airways’ after Barcelona signed a lucrative deal a couple of years ago. At the time, the club argued it needed the cash to remain competitive.

The La Masia supply line has dried up and stalwarts like Carles Puyol and Victor Valdes have left. Xavi is on his way. Fabregas has returned to England. Barcelona tried to identify more young talent and set them up in the youth teams but earlier this year, FIFA found them to be in breach of transfer regulations regarding minors. The club was subsequently banned from signing any players for two consecutive transfer windows. After lodging an appeal, the ban has been temporarily lifted, allowing Barca spend big on Suarez, goalkeeper Marc-Andre Ter Stegen and Ivan Rakitic.

Last year, they lavished huge money on Neymar and suffered the consequences when they were later charged with tax fraud. Club president Sandro Rosell resigned in disgrace after his role in what was a humiliating ordeal for such a principled organization. Suarez has fled from England, tired of the criticism. He made his mind up a long time ago that he wasn’t staying. Like Armstrong, he hides from reality. Like Armstrong, he’s accepted his version of the truth. And despite a new beginning, that remains his biggest problem.