THOSE who follow football will have not been surprised by FIFA president Sepp Blatter’s comments this week with regards to racism in football.

Blatter has a habit of coming out with statements that are as offensive as they are moronic, for someone in such a position of power in world football.

He has said before that the women’s game could become popular if its players wore tighter shorts and told gay fans worried about attending the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, where homosexuality is banned, that they should refrain from any sexual activities if they attended.

So when Blatter said that football had no on field problems with racism and that players should settle disputes with an end of game handshake – it came as little surprise to me as it was just another in a long list of stupid comments he has made.

FIFA has also often paid only lip-service to its fight against racism. It says it has a zero tolerance approach to racism yet in Italy and Spain, derogatory chants directed at players because of the colour of their skin can be heard most weekends.

And when England’s black players were racially abused during international friendlies in Spain in 2004; FIFA fined the Spanish Football Federation a meagrely 65,000 Euros. Hardly kicking racism out of football, merely giving it an evil glance from across a crowded room.

What surprised me less was that, despite calls for Blatter to resign, good old Sepp refused - saying it would go against his ‘fighting spirit’.

This is a man who was re-elected in June despite FIFA facing corruption charges under his leadership.

The trouble with FIFA and Sepp is that neither are accountable. The media publish the reaction to his outrageous comments and get the likes of Rio Ferdinand, David Cameron and Professional Footballers’ Association chief Gordan Taylor to call for him to resign, but none of those people are Blatter’s boss. He doesn’t have to listen to anyone. Even the public can’t hold him to account as he isn’t democratically elected by them. So all he has to do is say sorry, sweep the issue under the carpet and wait for it to go away.

John Terry and Luis Suarez are two English premier league players who have recently been charged with racially abusing opponents. They will probably be hoping for similar treatment if they are found guilty.

The trouble for them is that they have been charged by the Police and English FA respectively. Unlike Blatter, they will be held to account - and rightly so.

What do you think about Blatter's comments on racism in football? Does World Football need to take a stronger stance? Leave your comments below.

Readers who submit articles must agree to our terms of use. The content is the sole responsibility of the contributor and is unmoderated. But we will react if anything that breaks the rules comes to our attention. If you wish to complain about this article, contact us here