President of football organisation FIFA, Sepp Blatter faces a barrage of ‘outs’ after his comments on racism in football.
Asked if racism was a problem on the pitch, Blatter told CNN World Sport: “I would deny it. There is no racism, there is maybe one of the players towards another, he has a word or a gesture which is not the correct one, but also the one who is affected by that. He should say that this is a game. At the end of the game, we shake hands.
“During a match you may say something to someone who’s not looking exactly like you, but at end of match it’s forgotten.”
Many names are calling for the President to step down and I add my name to that long list as I’m sure many football enthusiasts will. Sports Minister Hugh Robertson and Professional Footballers’ Association Chief, Gordon Taylor have both called for Blatter to stand down. As well as Kick It Out the anti-racism football group.
Blatter needs to ‘keep with the times’ and recognise that racism does go on in football, and he has the responsibility and power to change that.
Wednesday saw the FA charge, Liverpool forward Luis Suarez with racially abusing Manchester United defender Patrice Evra. Further investigations are going on with England captain John Terry’s alleged racist comments towards Anton Ferdinand.
So how can FIFA President Sepp Blatter insist there is no racism in football?
Maybe FIFA needs to change as a whole, and not just Blatter, as it’s so evident that racism does go on.
Blatter was clearly poorly informed when heading into this interview, but still to make such comments is appalling. The man represents football and what it stands for, and for him to say what he has is a slap in the face to the world and to anti-racism groups who have worked so hard in years gone by.
How he hasn’t explained himself and his comments yet, baffle me. But as Rio Ferdinand said on twitter “Fifa clear up the blatter comments with a pic of him posing with a black man…I need the hand covering eyes symbol!!”. I’m sure Sepp Blatter wishes he could cover up everyone’s eyes and clear up this mess.
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