On the same day that Suarez was charged by the FA, FIFA President Sepp Blatter stated that any incidents of discrimination on the pitch could be settled at the end of the game with a handshake, something that Lynch branded a “stupid idea”. When Suarez and Evra next met, Suarez refused Evra’s gesture of a handshake, claiming “all is not as it seems”. However, there was a general consensus in the footballing public that if they had shaken hands, then the whole matter would have been consigned to history, instead of prolonging the matter. This would surely have run parallel to Blatter’s idea of settling incidents in this way.
“I think that if both parties agreed to the conciliation that was offered, then the general consensus would have been that it would have settled the matter, and there would have been a genuine heartfelt happiness about them doing it”, Lynch said. “But to say that every incident could be settled immediately after the game with a simple handshake is a total fallacy. Otherwise players would say whatever they wanted; knowing that all they would have to do is offer their hand at the end of every match. It would only compound the problems, not provide a solution”.
As it transpired, Sepp Blatter had to retreat on his stance, and offered an apology after a farcical couple of days, where he somewhat naively posted a picture of himself with Tokyo Sexwale, a black South African politician, on Twitter, expecting this to cover his tracks. His apology came across as quite insincere in the English media though, and although he continues to serve as FIFA President, there is a lot of ill-feeling towards him. Lynch supports Blatter’s apology however, even though he disagreed with the initial statement.
“He was misunderstood specifically in the English media, where there is a lot of Anti-Blatter feeling, stemming from the failed World Cup bid and beyond. The apology was not well communicated, but English is not his first language, so it was difficult for him to convey his words to satisfy the English press,” he said.
The Suarez case, though regrettable, has provided some good for Kick It Out. Their name has rarely been out of the press since the incident, and this increased exposure can only sow the seeds for a heightened awareness to their cause. “In turn, we hope that with the media attention we are receiving, we can further boost our position, and really have some influence on what happens when there are more cases of discrimination”. Lynch said. “All we have is a voice at the moment, but we want more. It would be nice to have some power and be able to serve the offenders with sanctions, so that hopefully our message will sink even deeper, and eventually lead to discrimination being fully removed from the game that we all love”.
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