Blatter sorry but he won’t quit

FIFA president Sepp Blatter has now promised zero tolerance on racism.

Alex Ferguson: United manager was pleased to hear of Blatter’s apology.

FIFA president Sepp Blatter yesterday issued an apology for his remarks on racism accompanied by an insistence he would not resign — and an admonishment from the Football Association that his initial comments had been “irresponsible”.

Blatter, 75, backtracked on statements made in interviews earlier this week that incidents of racist abuse on the pitch should be settled by a handshake between the players concerned.

The FIFA president admitted yesterday his comments had caused a “serious incident” and he had used “unfortunate words” which he “deeply regretted”.

FA chairman David Bernstein said Blatter’s apology was “necessary”.

Bernstein said: “A handshake at the end of the game does not draw a line under racial abuse during a match. Mr Blatter has made it clear he will not resign but his apology today was necessary. His initial comments were wrong and irresponsible.”

Bernstein spoke after an apparently humble Blatter admitted he had been wrong. Blatter told BBC Sport: “I can only say I am sorry for all those people affected by my declarations. I am sorry and I regret that my statements earlier this week have resulted in an unfortunate situation. I am committed to the fight against racism and I will not stop until I have stamped out racism in football.”

Blatter was adamant however, that he would not resign.

“I cannot resign,” he said. “Why should I? When you are faced with a problem you have to solve the problem. To leave the organisation would be totally unfair and is not compatible with my fighting spirit, my character, my energy and my personal commitment to football.”

Blatter now says any players found guilty of racism on the pitch should be thrown out of the game.

“Zero tolerance,” he said. “This was a good lesson for me as well. It should be and it shall be zero tolerance.”

The controversy has seen Blatter become embroiled in a Twitter row with Manchester United and England defender Rio Ferdinand, and the FIFA president said he had hoped for “a little bit better more understanding from star players” because of their record in tackling racism.

Tokyo Sexwale, the South African minister and member of FIFA’s fair play committee who was included in a photo with Blatter when FIFA put out a defensive statement on Wednesday night, told a press conference in Johannesburg that Blatter had made an “unfortunate mistake” but had a long pedigree of working against racism.

He said: “We should distinguish racial remarks from other things. If you use a racial slur it won’t go away, you cannot exchange a jersey, you can’t mitigate it with a handshake, that’s why we call for action to be taken against players.”

“I think what Mr Blatter was saying, he mixed up those emotions and was trying to say ‘look, let’s get on with the game’. It was an unfortunate mistake.”

Manchester United boss Alex Ferguson welcomed Blatter’s apology.

“I don’t know how he has apologised but it is always nice to apologise,” said Ferguson.

Celtic manager Neil Lennon, a victim of sectarian abuse and violence in the past, agreed Blatter had “completely missed the point” but did not think he would stand down, while QPR’s Neil Warnock believes the only way to force Blatter to resign is if every black player refused to play in the next round of international fixtures.