Liverpool's Luis Suárez has been charged with racism by the Football Association after a complaint was made by Patrice Evra of Manchester United during the 1-1 draw between the two sides on 15 October.

The FA's statement, published on its official website on Wednesday evening, said: "It is alleged that Suárez used abusive and/or insulting words and/or behaviour towards Manchester United's Patrice Evra contrary to FA rules. It is further alleged that this included a reference to the ethnic origin and/or colour and/or race of Patrice Evra."

Evra, Manchester United's captain on the day, had told the French media that the Liverpool No7 had been trying "to try to wind me up" and that "there are cameras, you can see him say a certain word to me at least 10 times. There is no place for that in 2011".

On Wednesday evening Liverpool responded to the FA charge with a statement on their own website. "The club this afternoon received notification from the Football Association of their decision to charge Luis Suárez and will take time to properly review the documentation which has been sent to us.

"We will discuss the matter fully with him when he returns from international duty, but he will plead not guilty to the charge and we expect him to request a personal hearing. Luis remains determined to clear his name of the allegation made against him by Patrice Evra. The club remain fully supportive of Luis in this matter."

Suárez sat out Uruguay's 1-0 friendly win against Italy on Tuesday with a muscle problem but on Saturday he scored all four goals when they beat Chile 4-0 in the third round of the South American qualifiers for the 2014 World Cup. The striker scored two in three minutes shortly before half-time and added two more in the second half as his country opened up a three-point lead in the qualifying table.