UK Sports Minister Hugh Robertson and Gordon Taylor, the chief executive of England’s Professional Footballers Association, were among those calling for FIFA president Sepp Blatter to resign on Thursday following his comments on racism.
The 75-year-old Swiss has faced widespread criticism following his remarks on Wednesday when he said in two separate TV interviews there was no racism in soccer and that players involved in any racist confrontations on the pitch should settle their differences with a handshake at the end of the match.
The comments from the head of world soccer’s governing body have provoked a furor in England, where the FA is dealing with two high-profile racism allegations.
Photo: AFP
Blatter has responded to one of his critics — Manchester United and England defender Rio Ferdinand — by becoming involved in a slanging match with the player on Twitter.
Robertson, asked on BBC radio if Blatter should quit, said: “Yes, we’ve been saying this for some time. This is incredibly serious but it is part of a pattern of behavior.”
Taylor said Blatter had now gone too far.
“This goes beyond the line. To talk like he did shows he is totally out of tune and out of time,” Taylor told Sky Sports News.
“He should move aside for [UEFA president] Michel Platini. If one person should get it about racism it is the head of FIFA, which has 200 countries in the world, which are so diverse and have different backgrounds, colors, cultures and creeds and if he is not getting it then he’s got to move on,” Taylor said.
Asked if Blatter should resign, he said: “I think without a shadow of a doubt.”
Blatter’s comments were televised on the same afternoon as the English Football Association (FA) charging Uruguayan striker Luis Suarez of Liverpool with racially abusing Manchester United defender Patrice Evra last month. Suarez is pleading not guilty.
The FA and police are also investigating allegations of racial abuse by England and Chelsea captain John Terry towards Queens Park Rangers defender Anton Ferdinand last month.
There has been a predictably vehement backlash in England towards Blatter, with the Sun’s front-page headline “Blind as a Blatt” making the tabloid’s feelings known, while many pundits have called on him to quit.
European newspapers were less forthright, with some major ones, like Italy’s Gazzetta dello Sport, not mentioning the controversy at all on their Web site, but Switzerland’s Blick talking of a “racism storm.”
Rio Ferdinand — Anton’s brother — was one of many critics, saying on Twitter that he was “astonished” by Blatter’s comments.
“Sepp Blatter your comments on racism are so condescending it’s almost laughable. If fans shout racist chants but shake our hands is that ok?” Ferdinand wrote. “I feel stupid for thinking that football was taking a leading role against racism — it seems it was just on mute for a while.”
Ferdinand also implied in another tweet that a picture on the FIFA Web site of Blatter with a “black man” was an attempt to limit the damage caused by the FIFA president’s comments.
Blatter then tweeted back: “@rioferdy5. The ‘black man’ as you call him has a name: Tokyo Sexwale. He has done tremendous work against racism and apartheid in Africa.”
Former England captain David Beckham on Thursday also condemned Blatter’s remarks on racism, but stopped short of saying Blatter should resign.
“I think the comments were appalling. I think a lot of people have said that,” Beckham said at a press conference in Los Angeles to preview his Los Angeles Galaxy’s clash with the Houston Dynamo tomorrow for the MLS Cup.
“I have no power with who goes and who stays within FIFA and have no wish to have that,” Beckham said. “But there obviously is and has been racism throughout soccer and life in the last few years.”
Beckham said he thought the FA had made “huge strides in the last 10 or 15 years” in battling racism in the game.
“But it is still there and it can’t just be swept under the carpet, can’t be sorted out with just a handshake. That’s not how racism should be treated,” he said.
Blatter, whose organization has been beset by corruption allegations in the recent past, has made a series of gaffes over the years.
He called on women players to wear skimpier kits and upset homosexuals by saying they should not engage in sexual relations at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
The Swiss also said England were “bad losers” after they missed out on hosting the 2018 World Cup to Russia and has become a figure of hate among English media, despite being adored in other parts of the world such as 2010 World Cup hosts South Africa.
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