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| at the center of the row, Roy Hodgson hugs the victim of his racist joke, Andros Townsend |
Although Roy Hodgson furiously denied being racist after his reference to ‘feeding a monkey’ when asking England players to pass the ball to Andros Townsend, the joke has spiralled into a major race row. Hodgson should know better to avoid racially sensitive jokes. He obviously knew what he was saying and it needs no interpreting that he referred to Townsend as a monkey and it smacks of racism at its crudest.
The England football manager was forced to publicly apologise after repeating a line from an obscure joke during half time in Tuesday’s match against Poland which his players won to qualify for the World Cup.
His delight at victory turned to despair yesterday when it was claimed some players believed the 66-year-old was making a racist comment about the ethnicity of mixed race winger Andros Townsend.
Last night – as he came under fire from anti-racism campaigners – Mr Hodgson suggested a ‘generational’ misunderstanding may have been to blame.
‘You would have to go a long way to find somebody who is less
racist than me,’ he told the Mail’s Michael Henderson.
‘I have coached almost everywhere in the last 37 years, worked with all kinds of people, so this intimation of racism – you can hardly call it a story – is so saddening.’
The row centres on a comment made by Mr Hodgson in the 15-minute interval on Tuesday night. England were leading by a goal to nil and one of the side’s stars had been Tottenham Hotspur winger Townsend.
Mr Hodgson is understood to have urged defender Chris Smalling to pass the ball to Townsend, saying: ‘It’s like the old Nasa joke – feed the monkey’.
The joke he was referring to is about two highly trained monkeys used to pilot a spaceship, with the punchline being that the redundant human astronaut’s only job is to ‘feed the monkey’.
England went on to win 2-0. But yesterday it became clear that some of those present in the dressing room felt the ‘monkey’ comment could be construed as being racist.
It was claimed that players – it is not known which – privately expressed ‘unhappiness’ over the use of the word monkey in a squad containing several black or mixed race members.
Mr Hodgson said last night that some of the players may have been unaware of the joke’s origins because of their youth.
He told the Mail: ‘I admit some of the younger players may not have understood the reference to the monkey in space.
‘They may not have heard the expression before but that’s a generational thing. I meant “give the ball to the player who can make things happen”. There was no other connotation and no offence was taken by any of the players.’
Despite this – and public support from stars such as Wayne Rooney and Townsend himself – race relations campaigners piled into the row.
Lord Ouseley, who chairs the anti-racism in football group Kick It Out, called on the Football Association to investigate.
And a spokesman for European anti-discrimination group FARE, Piara Powar, tweeted: ‘Hodgson used a very silly term within a diverse team environment. He should know better.’
Rooney, however, declared his clear backing for the manager, tweeting: ‘Seen the story on Roy this morning. He done nothing wrong. This is ridiculous.’
Football Association chairman Greg Dyke similarly last night pledged the FA’s support. And Townsend, whose Jamaican father Troy works for Kick It Out, tweeted: ‘I don’t know what all this fuss is about. No offence was meant and none was taken!’
In a separate statement, Mr Hodgson said: ‘I would like to apologise if any offence has been caused by what I said at half time.
‘There was absolutely no intention on my part to say anything inappropriate. I made this clear straight away to Andros in the dressing room.
‘I also spoke to Andros again on Wednesday. He has assured me and the FA he did not take any offence and understood the point I was making in the manner I intended.’
Despite Mr Hodgson’s attempts to head off controversy, a growing storm brewed yesterday, with an online poll of 500 people by mid-afternoon suggesting that one in ten people believed the England manager should be sacked, and a third believing his remark could have had racist overtones.
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