Poor Sepp Blatter. Things still aren’t going his way. Blatter said yesterday how hurt he felt after being criticised for his comments about racism in football. Visibly perplexed, he said: “I was very much hurt by these comments because it touched me in my conscience.”

Blatter was addressing the media after opening the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) executive committee meeting in Kuala Lumpur.

The opening question at the media conference was naturally about last week’s delirious racism saga the 75-year-old Swiss had to cope with. His answer was stunted:

I can only say this item for me is closed. I have made my apologies, I cannot say more.

But then he couldn’t help himself and insisted he wasn’t surprised by the British media’s strong criticism of him – including the calls for him to stand down as head of football’s world governing body:

I was very much hurt by these comments because it touched me in my conscience and my determination to go against racism.

However, he still didn’t acknowledge that racism actually does exist in football:

If somebody is still thinking I am a racist, sorry to say that I am working now practically 37 years in FIFA … there is no racism, nothing at all, and this matter for me is over and over. We go forward. There is no discrimination in my feelings, there is no racism, nothing at all.

Growing increasingly irritated, the FIFA boss even half-heatedly snapped at FIFA’s Vice President, Prince Ali, when he offered to help Blatter answer a question about the use of the hijab, the Islamic head scarf, in football:

I can just answer, I was asked, I answer. You can add but I answer.

Blatter continued to struggle through the rest of the presser and gave rambling answers about topics like the strength of Asian economies.

[Source: Reuters]