The Uruguayan government have denied interfering in the FA's hearing of Liverpool striker Luis Suarez's alleged race row with Manchester United's Patrice Evra.

The Independent says the Uruguay embassy in London yesterday strenuously denied rumours that have circulated that the government of Suarez's native country have attempted to intervene on a political level to give context to the kind of words that the player is alleged to have used.

The case is being heard according to the usual FA procedure in which the three-man panel - Paul Goulding who is a Queen's Counsel, Brian Jones and Denis Smith - is independent while the governing body takes on the role of the prosecution.