Sir Alex questions Jason Roberts' stance
Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson on Friday questioned the stance taken by Reading striker Jason Roberts after Roberts announced he will not support a campaign to combat racism in soccer.
"I think everyone should be united; I don't know what point he's trying to make," Ferguson said. "He really should be supporting all the other players who are doing it."
Roberts said Thursday he would refuse to wear the anti-racism Kick It Out shirt at Liverpool on Saturday in protest at what he feels is the group's lack of action against recent incidents of racism in the English game.
Aberdeen and Wales goalkeeper Jason Brown said he supported Roberts' stance.
"I just think it's that we don't feel confident in the people who are supposed to be dealing with these matters, and we feel that a lot more could be said," Brown said. "I'm sure their heart is in the right place but we don't feel they are doing the right job."
Damaged by the year-long racism case involving John Terry, English football had asked Premier League players to don the T-shirts during the warm-up for this weekend's matches.
Ferguson said his Manchester United players will respect the Kick Racism Out of Football campaign this weekend, despite reports that Rio Ferdinand would be part of a boycott.
Anton Ferdinand, the QPR defender who was on the receiving end of John Terry's racial abuse, is expected to wear the shirt, according to his manager, as is his brother Rio.
"That is my understanding; I have not been told anything different. I fully expect everyone to wear the T-shirt," QPR manager Mark Hughes said. "Obviously, people will have a view in terms of where they think campaigns against racism in football and in life and some will think not enough is being done. But if you look in the last 10-20 years a huge amount has been done to make sure racism doesn't have a part or a presence in football."
Hughes added that he was not expecting a personal apology to his player.
"I think John Terry feels that he hasn't done anything wrong and that has been his stance," he said. "So for him to apologize would perhaps be an admission of guilt, so I wouldn't have thought he would be prepared to do that."
Chelsea boss Roberto Di Matteo confirmed that Terry and all Chelsea players will wear Kick It Out shirts, but that will not be Saturday as the day at White Hart Lane has been set aside to support Children in Need.
"We strongly support the Kick It Out campaign. All our players are very supportive of that. Every player will wear it," said Di Matteo, who did not want to comment on Roberts' decision. "(Racism) is a wider problem than just football. It is a society problem we are discussing and we all need to do more to respect each other and to educate everyone to respect other ethnic groups. It is a problem not just for football, but for society."
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger told The Guardian that if black players did not back Kick It Out, it would make the campaign "not credible."
"It is not only racism, black and white, it is against all kinds of insults we still have in the stadiums. We must fight more against it," he said. "You look at some faces when you walk around the pitch, what they shout at you is scary. That is, for me, racism."
Kick It Out chairman Lord Herman Ouseley insisted it was "ridiculous" for players not to wear T-shirts.
"It's ridiculous to say that by not wearing a T-shirt or by not supporting Kick It Out you are actually going to change things," Ouseley told BBC Radio Five Live.
Other high-profile incidents have brought racism back in the spotlight over the past year, with Liverpool striker Luis Suarez banned for eight games for hurling slurs at Manchester United defender Patrice Evra and more recently England's Danny Rose claiming racist abuse at the hands of Serbia fans in an under-21 international on Tuesday.
Commenting particularly on the Terry case, Bernstein said: "Unfortunately, the reputation of English football has been damaged. It is a shame that one high-profile incident has had such a major impact. But this single event should not be allowed to overshadow the massive strides taken by players, managers, clubs, leagues and so many across the national game in terms of equality and inclusion. The damage of this affair is not irreparable."
Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini said all his players would wear the Kick It Out T-shirts, but he felt isolated use of racist words in the heat of the moment were different from sustained bouts of racist chanting from the stands.
"Sometimes, we hear some forms of racism but sometimes they are stupid things because when you are on the pitch you say one thing that you don't think. This is a different situation, but we need to work together for this," the Italian said. "Here we are all against every form of racism. We don't need to put this (T-shirt) on, we are like this."
Wenger praised the work done by the English FA to combat racism, widely seen in England as the biggest scourge in the sport.
"There are some countries where they don't do (anything)," said the Frenchman, who has been in charge of Arsenal since 1996. "I am long enough in this country to say that they tackle the problem. They don't hide behind it. It is not easy, yet they have a consistent behavior to fight it every year. You could see that with the Suarez and Terry. They do not let people get away with it."
Aston Villa manager Paul Lambert also insisted his players will wear T-shirts in support of the anti-racism campaign, and said reports that the black players at Villa would not back the campaign were inaccurate.
"Absolutely, yes. I don't see any issue with that at all. The lads will go and do it," Lambert said. "Contrary to some reports saying they weren't going to do it, that is totally misinformed and I'm not happy with that."
Information from The Associated Press and Press Association was used in this report.
