Ayre: 'Liverpool players will walk if racially abused'

Liverpool's Managing Director Ian Ayre has said that the team will not hesitate to walk off the pitch if their players are subjected to racial abuse when they play Zenit St. Petersburg in Russia on Thursday.



The Russians host the Reds in the first leg of their Europa League last 32 tie, and Ayre has said that they will take the "right action" if any player is singled out for racist taunts.



"Anything that happens off the pitch, we'll work very closely with the authorities," Ayre was quoted as saying in The Telegraph.



"We'll take the right action. I'll ensure we do whatever we need to do to protect our players.



"I'd much rather we take the incident off the pitch and we deal with it. Obviously the referee has a role to play within that. But we'll be briefing our players on what's acceptable and what's not.



"[Racist behaviour] has been a major concern for us. I wrote to Uefa very recently expressing our concerns – and also to Zenit. The most we can do is make our feelings clear ahead of the game, and hope that we get an adequate response and adequate support on the night."



Back in December, a Zenit fan group wrote an open letter to the club calling for the exclusion of gay and non-white players from the club.

Ayre - Liverpool owner fully committed

Liverpool's principal owner John Henry remains completely committed to moving the club forward despite his lack of presence at Anfield this season, according to managing director Ian Ayre.

The American, the lead figure in Fenway Sports Group who bought the Merseysiders in October 2010, has yet to attend a game this season, although business partner and Reds chairman Tom Werner has been present on occasions and will be again for the visit of Norwich on Saturday.

But Ayre insisted the lack of Henry's presence to see his second major sports investment - his other being the Boston Red Sox baseball team - does not mean anything.

"I wouldn't read anything into John not being here," said Ayre. "Two things: firstly he has had lot of work to do on the Boston Red Sox this year, they are approaching their pre-season now.

"Secondly, he also became a father again quite recently so he's likely been busy changing nappies!

"I speak to John very regularly and he's really pleased with the way things are going with the team.

"I know he keeps in contact with Brendan (Rodgers) regularly. I'm sure we will see him here soon.

"John's commitment to Liverpool isn't about him being at games. It's about him being involved and committed and being supportive.



"All that happens on a consistent basis. We get great support from both John and Tom.

"I was over in Boston recently and met with all the different investors in FSG and they are greatly supportive for what we're trying to achieve and are 100% behind us."




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