What Privilege Sounds Like, FIFA Edition

(TW for racism and apologia)

Sepp Blatter, embattled head of FIFA under constant complaint of corruption, has spoken out yesterday on a number of recent racism incidents (note that these are only incidents from the past couple of WEEKS), saying that:

"I would deny it. 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 effected by that, he should say that this is a game.

"We are in a game, and at the end of the game, we shake hands, and this can happen, because we have worked so hard against racism and discrimination. I think the whole world is aware of the efforts we are making against racism and discrimination.

"And, on the field of play sometimes you say something that is not very correct, but then at the end of the game, the game is over and you have the next game where you can behave better."

Tl;dr version: "We're working really hard, so you should cut us some slack, because obviously anyone who plays a competitive game can be expected to spew racist insults!"

Um, no, Mr. Blatter. A lot of us manage to get through all kinds of high-stress, competitive situations without dehumanizing our adversaries. It's fairly simple, really: you just don't call people racist names. There. See how easy that was?

And speaking as a referee who has, on more than one occasion, shown red cards to players for racist behaviour on the pitch, I can say with absolute certainty that racism is an ENORMOUS problem in our beloved sport, and a horrendous blight on The Beautiful Game.

I think it's clear from your statement that the only reason you're not spewing racist bullshit yourself is that you're a canny politician, and that means you need the support of some of those same people you'd otherwise sneer at. But self-interest is not a pass for racism, and you, a white man with enormous power, don't get to tell POC that they should just smile and take it.

FIFA needs to get out of the rectal haberdashery game, and into the "getting rid of this overprivileged shitbag we have running this place" game.