Soccer:Former England captain David Beckham has become the latest high-profile star to condemn Sepp Blatter's comments on racism, labelling them "appalling" and a backward step for football.
Blatter has come under fire in the past 48 hours after claiming in two television interviews that racism on the pitch could be settled with a post-match handshake.
The FIFA president has since claimed his comments were misunderstood but Beckham believes they have served to undermine the work done to stamp racism out of football.
"The comments were appalling. A lot people have said that," Beckham said. “I don't think that the comments were very good for this game.
"There obviously is, and has been, racism throughout soccer and in life over the last few years.
"I do think, especially being around the England team and being around the FA - the FA do a lot of work in kicking racism out of the game.
"They've have made huge strides in the past 10-15 years - but it is still there."
Beckham also hit out at Blatter's assertion that a handshake at the end of a match was enough to forgive any racist remarks on the pitch.
"It can't be swept under the carpet, it can't be sorted out with a handshake," the LA Galaxy star said.
"That's not the way of the world and that's not how racism should be treated. It's out there and we have to keep working hard to keep in out of the game and life in general.
"Racism is something we want to keep out of sport but also life in general."
Beckham's comments follow Blatter’s public spat with Rio Ferdinand came as the chorus of criticism over his comments reached fever pitch in Britain but barely registered in some parts of Europe. After trying to clarify his comments, labelled “a disgrace” and “completely unacceptable” by the British sports minister Hugh Robertson, and the Labour leader, Ed Miliband, Blatter responded to Ferdinand’s criticism on Twitter.
Ferdinand had lambasted Blatter (see panel right), saying his comments were “so condescending it’s almost laughable” and criticising Fifa for attempting to “clear up the Blatter comments with a pic of him posing with a black man”.
In a direct response to Ferdinand the Swiss said: “The ‘black man’ as you call him has a name: Tokyo Sexwale. He has done tremendous work against racism and apartheid in Africa.” Blatter also claimed Fifa has a “long-standing and proud record in the area of anti-discrimination”.
Sexwale sits on Fifa’s fair play committee and was incarcerated on Robben Island during the apartheid era. Ferdinand responded: “To say what you said about racism in football spoke volumes of your ignorance to the subject.”
Calls for Blatter to go have intensified since he suggested in televised interviews with CNN and al-Jazeera that racism on the pitch is not a problem. “I would deny it. There is no racism,” he said. “There is maybe one of the players towards another – he has a word or a gesture which is not the correct one. But the one who is affected by that, he should say that this is a game. We are in a game, and at the end of the game, we shake hands, and this can happen, because we have worked so hard against racism and discrimination.”
Moreover, Blatter appeared to stand behind his comments yesterday in an interview with Fox Soccer. He said: “I thought, and I’m still a very optimistic man, that after the World Cup in South Africa where it was really connecting the people, all different races, all different cultures being brought together through football, that not only in the continent of Africa but everywhere in the world that this (racism) was over. But still, where human beings are, there are still some moments and we can never stop going against racism, against discrimination.
“But if you also be a little bit in a sporting spirit when there is something happening on the field of play, during a match, between two players – I call it foul language. I’m not saying about discrimination, but it’s foul language, it’s a foul play. At the end of the match, if you have foul play, (when) the match is over you shake hands now because it’s what we want to do. Before the match and at the end of the match everyone shall shake hands and therefore also forget what has been on the field of play.”
Other players, managers and fans joined the chorus of criticism, complaining Blatter’s views illustrate how out of touch he is. Mark Bright, a former Leicester City and Crystal Palace striker, said Blatter’s views are “archaic”, “old-fashioned” and “illegal”. The Birmingham manager Chris Hughton, one of only two black managers in the English professional game, along with Charlton’s Chris Powell, said the 75-year-old Fifa president’s views are “totally unacceptable”.
Hughton, this week appointed to the management committee of the League Managers Association, also pointed to the number of public gaffes by Blatter in recent years. “He almost seems untouchable. So I think that is a big concern for me, that someone in such a massively important position is able to (make such comments) and with almost no recourse.”
Wolves manager Mick McCarthy said Blatter’s comments were “outrageous”. “He has got to resign if he is going to go. Whether he has got that about him, I don’t know,” he said. “I think he should go personally. His comments were barmy and at best misguided.”
The Preston defender Clarke Carlisle, the PFA chairman and a Kick It Out ambassador, warned Blatter’s comments ran the risk of undermining years of work aimed at eradicating racism from the game. “To come so far on such a sensitive topic, (yet) in one fell swoop he can almost give carte blanche that racism is acceptable between the hours of 3pm and 4.45pm on a Saturday,” he said.
Fifa sponsors rushed to underline their commitment to equality but stopped short of condemning Blatter directly. “Our position is very clear. Adidas is totally opposed to racism in football and in fact in any sport at any level,” said a spokesman.
The 20 Premier League clubs issued a statement. “Everybody in the game in England understands any form of racism is totally unacceptable,” they said.
GuardianService
TWITTER SPAT: Ferdinand in fresh row with Fifa president
Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand gets involved: "Sepp Blatter your comments on racism are so condescending its (sic) almost laughable. If fans shout racist chants but shake our hands is that ok?"
After Fifa attempt to clarify Blatter's comments with a statement on their website underneath a large picture of Blatter with South African minister Tokyo Sexwale, who was imprisoned on Robben Island during the apartheid era, Ferdinand adds: "Fifa clear up the blatter comments with a pic of him posing with a black man. I need the hand covering eyes symbol!!".
Blatters responds to Ferdinand personally: "The 'black man' as you call him has a name: Tokyo Sexwale. He has done tremendous work against racism and apartheid in Africa."
Ferdinand insists on having the last word: "To say what you said about racism in football spoke volumes of your ignorance to the subject. If we want 2 stamp out racism in society a football pitch is a good place to start – loved by billions of people around the world."
