Why Blatter´s Comments Matter Outside of Europe

I remember being at a Cruz Azul v Toronto FC CONCACAF Champions League game in Mexico City about 14 months ago and every time a black player touched the ball, screams of "monkey" or "dog" were audible.

One middle-aged Mexican sitting at the side of me, attending the game with his kids, turned and shook his head.

It was how I imagined English grounds were like in the 1970s.

From Hugo Sanchez being called an "Indio" whilst playing in Spain, to incidents this year where Santos´ Darwin Quintero, a black Colombian striker, was allegedly called an "ape of shit," the Mexican game has its share of racism embedded.

Thankfully, such incidents are few and far between, but if you need proof from this footballing stronghold that Sepp Blatter´s comments on Nov. 16 were out of order in the global context, read carefully the following report about the Quintero incident.

"(The player) called me an ape of shit and (another player) pushed me," said Quintero. "If they call you black that passes you by but when they call you an ape, you´re not used to them calling you that."

Added Quintero: "They (other players) have called me black shit a lot of times, and a lot of other things, but ape?"

Quintero swung an arm and headbutted at one of the opposition players involved and was sent off for the violent act. It is the only red card he has received since arriving in Mexico in January 2009.

The opposition player defended himself by saying Quintero was making it all up to justify his violent actions. His manager backed him up, by saying he was a nice lad who couldn´t possibly do such a thing.

Quintero served a four match suspension, while the opposition player got nothing, highlighting difficulties of such cases.

"It´s logical," summised Quintero. "They can´t confirm if he said that or not, but it is on his conscience. If he hadn´t have said anything, I wouldn´t have spoken out about all this.

It´s for you to make your own conclusions about this particular case, but Blatter saying a player should get on with it, leave what was said on the field and shake hands after, is not the answer to wiping racism out of game. Not in England, and not in Mexico.

Video, in Spanish, explaining the case from both points of view: