Racism has many shapes and faces which is again proved by a joke cracked by England coach Roy Hodgson in a halftime talk show during a recent world cup qualifier. Though, he apologized after that, but anti racial campaigners look in no mood to let him go so easily; perhaps they are accusing him of using the selected words at a right time to gain the maximum impact. The incident put a small dent on English qualification for the Brazil world cup, but anyways, Englishmen finally started being in the news by their conducts outside the field. Apart from manager, English players are also defending him using a social platform which proves everything, eventually, becomes fine if you are winning on the ground, coz no action has until been initiated by the disciplinary task force. Actually, Tuesday was the DDay for England when they defeated Poland to finally enter into the 2014 FIFA world cup. Hodgson tried to interpret his statement by calling it just an attempt to criticize players’ pass the ball game by recalling a famous joke on monkey.
Anyways, Anti-racism campaigners Kick It Out are amazed to see how whole English football fraternity is backing their national manager despite knowing everything. In fact, when FA chairman Greg Dyke offered his full support, campaigners said, “He has and deserves the full support of the Football Association. We are pleased that the Football Association has investigated this matter swiftly and issued its findings immediately.
“If there has been no complaint on the back of the investigation then the matter can only be deemed as concluded. Kick It Out acts on behalf of the football community at large and when an allegation of a racist or discriminatory nature is made, it’s the organisation’s role to follow this up.”
They are even shocked to see no player raised his voice against the manager just coz he is a powerful personality which should not be the criteria to decide whether an action has will be taken or not. FA chairman further added, “Roy Hodgson is a man of the highest integrity, an honourable man who is doing a great job with the England team. He has fully explained to us what he said and the point he was making to the players in the dressing room at half-time on Tuesday night. He has also explained the context in which he made his remarks.
“He has made clear there was no intent to say anything inappropriate, and he was certainly not making any comments with any racist connotation. Importantly, he has apologised for any unintended offence that may have been taken. We will be making no further comment on this story and will now be giving Roy and the team our full support as we prepare for the World Cup in Brazil.”