Liverpool's sponsors voice fury over Luis Suarez

The striker sparked outrage when he snubbed Patrice Evra in the pre-match handshake at Old Trafford on Saturday, having served an eight‑match ban for racially abusing the Manchester United defender earlier in the season.

Yesterday, Liverpool issued a series of statements in which Suarez said sorry, manager Kenny Dalglish apologised for his conduct in a post‑match interview and managing director Ian Ayre criticised the Uruguay international for misleading the club.

Standard Chartered, which is the middle of a four-year £80million sponsorship deal, today voiced their condemnation publicly.

In a statement the bank said: "We were very disappointed by Saturday's incident and have discussed our concerns with the club."

A source said: "It was a very robust conversation."

Liverpool and United will not face disciplinary action from the Football Association after confrontations between players from both clubs.

They were involved in a heated exchange at half-time during United's 2-1 win, while Evra was spoken to by referee Phil Dowd after the final whistle for his overt celebrations in front of Suarez.

The FA say the refusal to shake hands is not a disciplinary issue, while Dowd has reported that he dealt with Evra at the time and that the tunnel incident was not serious enough to warrant any further action.

The pre-match handshake routine takes place before every Premier League and FA Cup match and is part of the FA's Respect campaign.

The League ruled out scrapping the routine for the match, the first time Evra and Suarez have come face to face since the original incident in October, saying to do so would negate the point of the handshakes.

The Government will host a summit in the next few weeks to discuss the issue of racism in football.