Quote of the week
Martin Glenn – happy with the FA’s last 17 months. “I believe we handled this case with decency and openness … The spirit in which we approached Eni’s concerns has been good.”
• The final take on the case from the FA’s third Eni Aluko inquiry: coach Mark Sampson is “not racist” but made illegal “racially discriminatory comments” due to his “difficulties judging boundaries when engaging in banter”. Glenn told MPs: “We regret this inappropriate banter.”
Football’s previous best work on discriminatory comments:
2011: Sepp Blatter tells players to roll with racist banter, “shake hands” and accept that “this is a game”. His core message: “There is no racism in football.”
2014: The League Managers Association calls Malky Mackay’s texts about “fkn chinkys”, a fat Jew, a “gay snake” and a game called Black Monopoly which features only “Go to Jail” squares “friendly text message banter”. The FA says Mackay “had a legitimate expectation of privacy”.
2014: A Premier League source tells the Sunday Mirror that chief executive Richard Scudamore’s emails about “female irrationality”, “gash” and “banging skinny big-titted broads” were “meant in a Frankie Howerd-style way”. Scudamore, cleared of wrongdoing, says the banter was “private, exchanged between colleagues and friends of many years … I apologise for any offence.”
Meanwhile: best gesture
Uefa’s all-white 18-member executive committee, launching the Uefa #EqualGame campaign to “celebrate diversity in the game … We want to highlight our commitment to leading the way.”
Other news: taking a stand
Shahid Khan – Fulham and Jacksonville Jaguars owner and donor of $1m to Donald Trump’s inauguration fund – surprised by how it’s all turned out: “Trump’s attacks on Muslims, on minorities, on Jews … the NFL doesn’t even come close to that on the level of being offensive.”
Most friendly
Russia 2018 – inviting banned football leaders to attend the tournament next summer. Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov: “Blatter and Putin have a long history of friendly relations, Putin knows Platini well also. Old friends will be welcome in Moscow.”
Strongest vision
Leicester vice-chair Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha, explaining Craig Shakespeare’s three-year deal in June, four months before sacking him: “Craig is the ideal choice to help take us [towards] our vision of long-term sustainable success. Continuity is among the key elements to making such a process work.”
Most grown up
Switzerland: Sion president Christian Constantin – banned for 14 months for beating a pitchside TV pundit who called him “a narcissist with zero empathy” – ready to sit down with Rolf Fringer for clear-the-air talks. “We can settle this out of court. We are 60-year-old men, let’s solve it, move on.” Although: “Someone will have to make the first move, and that someone is him. He started it.”
Most effusive
Mexico: Tigres defender Jorge Torres Nilo, posting a video apology for his red card against León: “I’m not proud of it. But shall I tell you more? When I was young I used to rob from my parents. Sometimes I was selfish, other times I lied. And before I met my wife I used to go with prostitutes. I’m not proud of any of it, but the important thing is to turn to heaven. Jesus didn’t come into the world for perfect people, he came for people like us, imperfect people. God bless you all.”
Least effusive
Brazil: Grêmio president Romildo Bolzan, facing action after calling referee Héber Roberto Lopes a “bald tramp” and an “incompetent homer” before an away game at Corinthians. Bolzan: “It was all off the record, but I forgot to tell the journalist. I’m sorry for that.”
Also paying respect
Spain: Albert Santanera, coach of fifth-tier Manlleu, explaining why he called referees “sons of bitches” and the FA “utter bastards” for employing them – adding: “I’ve had it up to my balls with referees, it’s a disgrace. I tell you this: they will not sink Manlleu: if we have to give our balls and our blood we will, that’s how it’s got to be now, us against them, anti-football.” Santanera: “I was agitated.”
Most got at
Italy: Antonio Colantonio, president of Serie D Turris Calcio, upset after the league banned midfielder Giovanni Liberti for “urinating in the direction of the away end while making vulgar gestures at his genital organ”. Colantonio: “Once again, we find ourselves faced with injustice. The player was adjusting his shirt.”
And most engrossed
India: Ghana’s Under-17 World Cup squad – left “badly distracted” by the plot of Indian soap Kumkum Bhagya, based loosely on Sense and Sensibility. Team official Kwadwo Agyemang: “They were streaming it, so we confiscated their phones. But I still watch it, so they ask me what is happening.” Agyemang’s plan before the squad goes home: “We all want to meet and take photos with the actors, even the producer – anyone would do. Even if it’s just for five minutes.”