Fifa’s Blatter sorry for comments on racism
Fifa President Sepp Blatter apologises for his comments on racist abuse in football, saying they were “not totally correct”. Meanwhile, David Beckham describes his words as “appalling”.
The 75-year-old Fifa president told the BBC: “When you have done something which was not totally correct, I can only say I am sorry for all those people affected by my declarations.”
But he was adamant he would not resign over the comments. “I cannot resign,” he added. “Why should I?”
Mr Blatter has been condemned for his comments on Wednesday, when he said that if racism occurred on the field, the players should settle their differences with a handshake at the end of the match.
Reacting to the comments on Thursday in Los Angeles, former England captain David Beckham criticised Mr Blatter but did not explicitly call on him to resign.
“I think the comments were appalling, I think a lot of people have said that. I don’t think the comments were very good for this game,” Beckham told the conference.
“I have no power with who goes and who stays within Fifa and I don’t wish to have that but there obviously is and has been racism throughout soccer and life over the last few years,” Beckham said.
“It’s still there and can’t just be swept under the carpet and can’t just be sorted out just by handshake.”
Beckham’s comments echoed Prime Minister David Cameron, who said: ‘It’s appalling to suggest that racism in any way should be accepted as part of the game.
“A lot of work has gone into ridding racism from all aspects of our society, including football. As many of our top sports stars have rightly pointed out, now is not the time for complacency.!
Call to resign
Britain’s Sports Minister Hugh Robertson went further and called for the Swiss to resign from the role he has held since 1998.
Blatter said his comments had been misunderstood and pledged his commitment to stamping out racism in the sport over the next three-and-a-half years of his term.
“What I wanted to express is that, as football players, during a match, you have ‘battles’ with your opponents, and sometimes things are done which are wrong,” he said.
“But, normally, at the end of the match, you apologise to your opponent if you had a confrontation during the match, you shake hands, and when the game is over, it is over
“Having said that, I want to stress again that I do not want to diminish the dimension of the problem of racism in society and in sport.
“I am committed to fighting this plague and kicking it out of football.”