Tomorrow night is the re-match of the Spanish England game mentioned above for it's racist chanting.
Some prominent members of Kick out Racism are suggesting the game should be boycotted because of racist comments made by the Spanish coach Aragones. He claimed to be trying to motivate Reyes when he said of Thierry Henry...
Locking heads with Reyes, Aragones harangued him with the line: "Tell that negro de mierda [black s***] that you are much better than him. Tell him from me. You have to believe in yourself; you're better than that negro de mierda."
The Daily Telgraph 06/10/04
Incredibly he then tried to justify his remarks as follows...
He told Spanish newspaper El Mundo: "Reyes is ethnically a gypsy. I have got a lot of gypsy and black friends.
"All I did was to motivate the gypsy by telling him he was better than the black.
"I consider myself a citizen of the world, I don't care about their skin colour. I feel I have been the victim of a lynching.
"I didn't use the term 'black' with any racist meaning."
news.bbc.co.uk 02/01/05
He was fined 3,000 euros as punishment for these comments but still is Spains national manager.
I am of the opinion that when the highest footballing coach in a country can make comments such as these and be fined what probably amounts to less than a weeks salary then it does not send out a particulary constructive message and is not helpful in eliminating racism.