By Alan Duffy
Arrigo Sacchi (on left) with Carlo Ancelotti and Antonio Conte at recent awards ceremony
The man behind AC Milan’s European dominance in the late 80s and early 90s , Arrigo Sacchi, has got himself into a lot of hot water over remarks he made at the ‘Maestrelli’ awards ceremony in Pistoia.
The 68-year-old, who also lead Italy to the 1994 World Cup final voiced his concerns at the multi-ethnic make-up of the Azzurri youth team at a tournament in Viareggio. He said:
“I’m certainly not racist and my history as a coach demonstrates that. But look at the Viareggio tournament I would say that there are too many black players.
“Italy has no dignity, no pride. It should not be possible that our teams should have 15 foreign players in the squad.
Sacchi, who also had stints at Parma, Atletico Madrid and, as sporting director, Real Madrid, tried to (unsuccessfully) dig himself out of a hole later, saying:
“I just said I saw a game featuring a team who fielded four coloured boys. My history speaks for itself, I always coached teams with different colours and I bought many, both at Milan and at Madrid.
“I just wanted to point out that we are losing our national pride and identity.”
Is that any better? I think not. In Sacchi’s warped view, national pride and identity are based on skin colour or some kind of racial purity, a dangerous viewpoint and one which highlights the continuing problem in racism in Italian football. At least, this outburst will shed more light on the issue in although, to be honest, one wonders how eager the Italian authorities are to adequately deal with the problem.
Expect Nigel Farage to be on the phone offering Sacchi a UKIP candidacy ahead of the general election.