Kenny Dalglish may disagree, but the FA are right to be taking their time over their investigation into the race rows involving Patrice Evra and Luis Suarez, and Anton Ferdinand and John Terry.

Both cases are being treated seriously and should either player be found guilty of racism, it will be fascinating to see how strongly they will be punished. If the ‘Kick It Out’ campaign is to be respected, any punishments which are handed out should go far beyond the standard three match ban imposed for most serious offences.

However to fully get to the bottom of both cases, the issue of whether any player at the centre of the controversy is also guilty of dishonesty may need to be addressed.

Should no evidence be found to support Patrice Evra’s claims that TV cameras would clearly show Luis Suarez repeatedly making alleged racist comments to him during Manchester United’s league game at Anfield, then the FA need to consider how to deal with Evra.

The United full back has been at the centre of previous allegations of racism, none of which have been proved. The player should also be well aware that any allegation which takes place during the match needs to be reported to the match officials, something he failed to do despite clearly feeling upset by what he alleges Suarez to have said.

In the case John Terry, post match comments stated that his alleged remark to Anton Ferdinand was taken out of context and that the matter was no longer an issue, having been sorted out following a discussion between the two players after the game.

If Ferdinand’s statement to the FA fails to support Terry, then the Chelsea and England captain is at the very least guilty of lying, and deliberately attempting to mislead any potential FA investigation from the outset.

Neither Suarez nor Terry have been found guilty of any offence as yet. But for the FA to conduct their investigation thoroughly, the allegations of racist comments may not be the only thing they need to look into.