Sepptic soccer

 My father, I recall, was forced to retire at 65. This felt harsh at the time. But there were good reasons laws and practices developed over time that nudged one generation aside so the next could take over. Simply put, whatever the accomplishments of one generation they do tend to lose touch with the times. And, after a certain age, the tendency is to start to believe in your own infallibility, your own need to respond to others.

The response of the 85 year old American football coach Joe Paterno to his recent scandal is a remarkable case in point. 

Sepp Blatter, the 75 year old head of FIFA, and thus at least the figurative head of all soccer, is another. Excerpted below is his recent gaffe denying racism in soccer and his even more bizarre suggestion that racial slurs should be met with a handshake at the end of the game. 

For women footballers: this is the guy who also suggested shorter shorts for women to increase attention to the game. He is literally a walking laundry bag of pre-War European cant on race, sex and ethnicity.




 Excerpted from *The Daily Mail*

Asked directly by a CNN reporter if racism exists on the pitch, Blatter denied it and said such incidents should simply be settled by a handshake at the end of the match.
'I would deny it,' he said. 'There is no racism, there is maybe one of the players towards another, he has a word or a gesture which is not the correct one, but also the one who is affected by that, he should say that this is a game.

Eye of the storm: Sepp Blatter embraces FIFA member Tokyo Sexwale

'We are in a game, and at the end of the game, we shake hands, and this can happen. On the field of play sometimes you say something that is not very correct, but then at the end of the game you have the next game where you can behave better.'
To a reporter from Al-Jazeera he simply compounded the situation. 
'During a match you may say something to somebody who is not exactly looking like you,' he said. 'But at the end... it's forgotten.'

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2062489/Sepp-Blatter-resign-claiming-players-forget-racism-handshake.html#ixzz1dy9zAALy