November 16, 2011: FIFA President Blatter Issues Clarification of Racism Comments

FIFA president Sepp Blatter issues a clarification of remarks he made earlier in the day about racism in football; in an interview with CNN he had appeared to suggest that a player who was the target of racist abuse from an opponent should shake the opponent’s hand after the game and forget about it (see November 16, 2011). “My comments have been misunderstood,” says Blatter in a FIFA press release. “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. 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. Anyone who has played a football match, or a match in any sport, knows that this is the case. 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.” [FIFA, 11/16/2011]