A handshake a day keeps racism at bay. Or not.

“There is no racism, maybe one of the players towards the other, he has a word or a gesture which is not the correct one, but also the one who is affected by that, he should say it’s a game, we are in a game.”

Crazy words. In a day and age when numerous campaigns attempt to make the public more aware, when clubs are fined for not controlling their supporter’s chants, and when two serious allegations have been brought to the fore from Premier League players, who would come out with such a blasé attitude towards racism? Ah yes. Sepp Blatter.

The President of Fifa, who suggested women should wear tighter shorts to promote the popularity of their game, and who also publically asked homosexuals to ‘refrain from sexual activity’ if they were to travel to Qatar for the 2022 World Cup, now appears to have added an absurd racial slur to his past sexist and homophobic comments.

Speaking to CNN, Blatter took one of football’s most anger-provoking topics and attempted to dismiss it with a waft of his ignorant right hand. “On the field of play, sometimes you say something that is not very correct, but then at the end of the game, the game is over and you have the next game where you can behave better.”

“The one affected by this should say this is a game and shake hands.”

This is the man supposed to be running world football. The over-riding example authorities, clubs, player and supporters alike should view as having the aspirational morals of the game at heart. Undoubtedly far fewer will readily shake his hand.

Perhaps this most recent ‘gaffe’ does prove he wishes to think the best of any situation, but it also confirms he lacks even a brain-cell’s worth of realism. In reaction to such serious allegations brought against John Terry and Luis Suarez in just the last few weeks, how can football’s most powerful man condemn racism as irrelevant in the modern game?

Whatever the outcomes of the two Premier League cases, racism is still a huge issue outside England. Just a few months ago when playing against Bulgaria in Sofia, Ashley Young and Theo Walcott were subjected to a torrent of abuse from home fans, which stirred the Bulgaria manager Lothar Matthaus to deliver a formal apology on behalf of the country. Similar affairs of the last decade occurred in Slovakia and Madrid.

Roberto Carlos, a legend wherever he travels, and a new famous face plying his trade in the Russian river of roubles, walked off the pitch in June after having a banana thrown at him from the stands. Some will remember Andre Bikey, the one time Reading defender, who broke off his contract completely with Lokomotiv Moscow saying that racism was just too prevalent.

It’s deeply disturbing and depressing to think that the English league is descending back to this level, after all the work done by the football association and other leading authorities to stamp it out. Leroy Rosenior, an ambassador for the ‘Show Racism the Red Card’ campaign, gave an interview recently to the Guardian, admitting he now feels so much relief that anyone caught shouting racist remarks in stadiums can be instantly removed.

For us as the public, a bit of controversy can bring a match or weekend to life (think a Carlos Tevez tantrum or Blatter’s other famous stance: goal-line technology), but racism emphatically does the opposite.

Possibly just as mind-boggling as Blatter’s situation, is the fact that the man heavily accused of this crime is the England captain. With his squeakier-than-clean reputation (cough), Terry would be incredibly dim to put himself even within a sniff of trouble concerning such a delicate issue. The understandably sensitive manner which Anton Ferdinand has pursued the case demands that the F.A. will review this matter with the utmost severity.

As for Luis Suarez, the F.A. has already announced that they are charging him with ‘abusive words and/or behaviour’ against Patrice Evra in the match between Liverpool and Manchester United in October. Potentially this could mean a long ban for the Uruguayan who tussled with Evra all match, and would appear to have stepped over the line. Whether it was a stumble or a jump, only he will know.

Both players could also find themselves in the hands of the police if found guilty, as they have opened investigations in relation to the incidents. If it’s not fit for the workplace, if it’s not fit for home, why would it be fit for the football pitch?

To protect football’s integrity, let’s hope these cases are just misunderstandings. Otherwise it appears the sport has gone two steps forward and one step back.

In fact, Golf has proved racism is very difficult to finally defeat. Tiger Woods’ ex-caddie, Steve Williams, did his best to mar his name further, after referring to his onetime pay-master as “that black a******”. It appears that Williams and Blatter share the streak of inappropriateness which discredits their sport.

Blatter’s remarks received an immediate hands-down from Rio Ferdinand, who tweeted infuriately, “Tell me I have just read Sepp Blatter’s comments on racism in football wrong….if not then I am astonished.” Aren’t we all, Rio?

The corporate world of finance and fairy tales Blatter lives in may now have distorted his view once too often. Maybe everything to him is as easy as a handshake, but with problems at Fifa spiralling out of control, let’s hope the thread holding Blatter’s career will soon be cut.