England Football Association (FA) President Greg Clarke was forced to resign Tuesday after making racist remarks about black footballers in England. In the immediate future, he will be replaced by Peter McCormick.
“We can confirm that Greg Clarke has stepped down as president”, the FA said in a statement. “My unacceptable words in Parliament have done our sport a disservice and those who watch, play, officiate and administer it a disservice. It crystallized my resolution to resign.”, Clarke said. “I am deeply saddened to have offended these various communities that I and others have worked so hard to bring into football.”
Beyond this act of contrition, the FA wished to reaffirm in its press release “that as an organization, we are absolutely determined to do all we can to promote diversity, tackle inequalities and tackle all forms of discrimination in gambling”. The tune-up and resignation comes after racist expressions Clarke used during a hearing by the House of Commons Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee (DCMS) on the future of English football, Monday morning.
Clarke used the term “coloured people”, an expression that can be translated as “colored people”, considered racist in English. FIFA vice-president Clarke was also criticized for having mentioned during the same hearing the lack of professionalism of the players of Asian origin, due to him due to “different career interests”. He further described being gay as a “choice of life” when asked about the lack of openly gay players in England.
In English there are two different expressions: “coloured people”, of a racist nature, and “people of colour” who is not. In French, these two expressions are commonly translated the same way: “colored people”.
