Unless racism is met with a consistent approach from the governing bodies, and the clubs themselves, it is an attitude that will continue to permeate through to the fans and perhaps even the players.

When Liverpool drew Manchester United and Queens Park Rangers drew Chelsea in the same round of the FA Cup, so soon after accusations of racial abuse had been reported in their respective league games, it seemed a foregone conclusion that one topic of discussion would dominate all others, and it wasn’t the football.

The games themselves were played in good spirit on the pitch. Dirk Kuyt would steal the victory late on in a tight match at Anfield, whilst a dubious penalty was well converted by Juan Mata to seal a 1-0 victory for Chelsea in the second half.

Though in a footballing sense Patrice Evra didn’t cover himself in glory, the French leftback, who made his first appearance at Anfield so soon after Luis Suarez was charged and found guilty of racially abusing him, handled the occasion with the utmost professionalism in a vociferous cauldron of noise where he was booed at every touch. Anton Ferdinand too composed himself brilliantly despite coming face to face with John Terry for the first time since the Chelsea skipper was charged by the police for allegedly racially abusing Ferdinand on the field of play,

The reaction from the fans, the clubs and even the FA themselves in these matters hints at a bigger problem however. Footballers should be able to talk freely about racial abuse, homophobia or any other kind of discrimination that occurs in the world of professional football. The jeering, the chanting, the to and fro of accusations between clubs and players, the inconsistencies in how these cases are handled could see a reversal of a trend of openness, where players feel confident enough to report these misdemeanours, and instead players might feel too intimidated, too open to ridicule, to bother following through their complaints.

Patrice Evra was booed and jeered at every touch, a reaction not entirely unexpected from the Liverpool fans to a man who simply reported what he believed to be racial abuse.  The defender was relentlessly booed and called a liar, simply for standing up for himself. The irony is of course that after consulting with linguistic specialists and video evidence of the argument itself, Luis Suarez was the one who was adjudged by an independent panel to have been inconsistent and unconvincing, not Patrice Evra, a man who had twice denied being racially abused when others insisted he was. It was a reaction not entirely inconsistent with the ill-advised press releases Liverpool released through their website that seemed more concerned with attacking Evra than defending Suarez against the evidence presented, over which legitimate questions can be raised.

The reaction was comically dismissed by Kenneth Dalglish as “banter”, which seemed odd considering this was the same man who insisted that the FA should protect Suarez from similar reactions from other crowds which he labelled, “antagonisation”. Liverpool have every right to stand by their man, if they honestly believe him to be innocent, but that is not an excuse to attack a man who stood up to what he, and now many others, believe to have been racial abuse.

It should be noted, that Liverpool have gone some way to repairing a somewhat tarnished reputation by acting swiftly to help identify and ban two fans who made appalling racist comments in their 3rd round FA Cup clash to a member of the losing Oldham side, as well as another fan who was caught on television gesturing at Patrice Evra with “monkey arms”.

That only one person out of 50,000 in the stadium reacted this way on a day where much more might have been expected offers some hope that the seriousness of this issue is beginning to dawn on the supporters.

Anton Ferdinand too was forced to deal with the repercussions of standing up for himself. He was delivered a bullet at QPR’s training ground on Friday, just for having the gall to stand up in the face of racial abuse from the England and Chelsea captain. Anton Ferdinand had the luxury of playing in front of his own crowd, but it was John Terry who received all the protection in the world from the once more inconsistent FA. They saved him from potentially being snubbed at the pre-match handshake by Anton Ferdinand, the man he called a “black c***", by simply axing the tradition.

I can think of few words better than intimidation to accurately describe what seems to be an outcry against the two players who are supposedly the victims of alleged racial abuse. It is the players who have stood up for themselves that are being hung out to dry, whilst the perpetrators have been sheltered, one by his home crowd, the other by the organisation that is supposedly standing up for “respect” in the game of football.

If I have been somewhat critical of the Liverpool response to Patrice Evra, both from the club as an institution and the fans, then there would be little reason for anyone to do anything but share in their contempt for the disgraceful inconsistency with which the FA has handled both situations.

Luis Suarez - fined and banned for eight matches - has, rightly or wrongly, been made an example of by the FA, even if he hasn’t by his club. John Terry has been sheltered despite his offence being apparently far more obvious and sinister. It is true that the FA’s position to act is complicated by the involvement of the police meaning Terry’s case is being handled by the courts, but that does not change the FA’s obligation to ensure that on the pitch, players play with decency and respect. The eagerness with which the FA have handballed the case to the authorities has been typical of an organization that can’t seem to take one step forward without taking two back.

That Luis Suarez is forced to watch from the stands is fair enough, given what he is accused of and the evidence provided by Evra, video and the verdict of linguistic specialists who deemed that Suarez’s defence was inconsistent with the evidence. He is not a racist person, but at the very least, by his own admission, he has used a term that can, if nothing else, be misconstrued as racist.

Unfortunately, what could have been perceived as a strong action on racism in the game of football has unfortunately become a mockery. As Luis Suarez watches on, John Terry continues to play, despite his alleged offence being caught apparently much more clearly on camera.

Factor in the actions of fans and clubs alike who choose to bully those who stand up for themselves, instead of defending their own against the evidence brought before them, and this is an issue that will not disappear quickly.

It is a shocking state for the game to be in in this modern age, and unless it is met with a consistent approach from the governing bodies, and the clubs themselves, it is an attitude that will continue to permeate through to the fans and perhaps even the players.