Sterling ‘sorry’ for racist comments

Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling, who was banned for life from the NBA over racist comments, has apologised and asked for forgiveness in his first public statement since the controversy began last month.

In an interview broadcast yesterday, Sterling told CNN he made a terrible mistake, but was not a racist. “I love my league, I love my partners. Am I entitled to one mistake? It’s a terrible mistake, and I’ll never do it again,” Sterling said in the interview. “I’m here to apologise.”

His comments came two weeks after National Basketball Association Commissioner Adam Silver fined the billionaire businessman $2.5m and banned him for life after a tape surfaced of Sterling telling a female friend not to associate with black people.