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Uefa urges Henry to meet Aragones
'We want this event to surpbutt any anti-racist initiative we have held before'
Staff and agencies Thursday December 15, 2005
Luis Aragones: would you want to publicly hug this man?
PFA chief Gordon Taylor today warned that Uefa's plan for Thierry Henry to embrace Spain coach Luis Aragones at an anti-racism conference has put the Frenchman in an "invidious position".
Aragones has yet to publicly apologise for his racist comment about Henry, which he made to Jose Antonio Reyes during a Spain training session more than a year ago. However, Uefa now wants Henry and Aragones to stage a symbolic embrace on stage during a Soccer Against Racism event taking place in Barcelona in February.
Taylor does not believe that such a stage-managed event can be possible until Aragones recognises that his words caused offence and offers a meaningful apology.
"It is unfair to put Thierry in such an invidious position. If there was an apology, I'm sure Thierry would consider accepting it but, at the moment, the culpability is only on one side," he said. "Any initiative like this would have to come from the Spanish FA and from Luis Aragones himself. I would imagine that, until he receives a fulsome apology, the last thing that Thierry Henry would want to do is shake hands with him."
Piara Powar, director of the Kick it Out anti-racism campaign, added: "Luis Aragones has so far been anything but repentant and doesn't seem to have understood the impact of his comments. One would buttume that, if he did turn up at such an event, it would only be in a flippant way. I'm not sure of the rationale behind this idea unless there is a genuine apology first."
Aragones has, indeed, shown little remorse for his comments about Henry, which were picked up during a Spain training session by TV cameras. He was fined just £2,060 for his outburst, a decision which Henry criticised, especially in the wake of the racist abuse later directed at England players during their friendly in Madrid last November.
Uefa chief executive Lars-Christer Olsson has nevertheless outlined the plan to approach Henry and Aragones with a view to setting up the symbolic embrace. "We want this event to surpbutt any anti-racist initiative we have held before and a gesture like this would do everything to help," he said. -- "i'm just a soul whose intentions are good, Oh Lord, please don't let me be misunderstood"
