Citing the abuse of Shaun Wright-Phillips and Ashley Cole during England’s last visit to Spain and chants directed at Samuel Eto’o during Barca’s recent match at Zaragoza, Rio Ferdinand has accused UEFA “paying lip service” to the task of tackling racism in Euroeple)
A UEFA mouthpiece (shown below, waiting for roast duck with the mango salsa) is quoted thusly by the Guardian’s Daniel Taylor.
“We sympathise but if he did his homework he would know we had nothing to do with the Spain-England game as it was under Fifa’s jurisdiction,” said the Uefa spokesman William Gaillard. “The Zaragoza game was under the Spanish FA’s jurisdiction and maybe Rio should have a look at what has happened in Spain since. The mayor of Zaragoza has invited Eto’o and his family to spend a weekend with him and when Barcelona played Osasuna in Pamplona there were many banners in sympathy. It’s wrong to have the view that the UK is paradise and Spain is hell.”