Bordeaux Manager Willy Sagnol Apologises for Comments on African Players

Bordeaux manager Willy Sagnol clarified his ill-advised comments earlier this week about African players on Thursday, apologising to anyone who might have been offended and maintaining he is not racist.     

As reported by BBC Sport, the 37-year-old said:

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If my lack of clarity or my imperfect semantics hurt or offended people, I'm sorry. I've never had any problems with anyone. [My comments] were purely about sports but it was made into something political.

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In an interview with Sud Ouest (in French, translation provided by AFP's Tom Williams, via Melissa Reddy), the former Bayern Munich star said African players are "not as expensive" as French players, before discussing the importance of intelligence and technique as he explained why he plans on signing fewer African players:

He immediately faced a lot of backlash over those comments, and he chose to clarify what he said on Thursday:

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When I spoke about cheaper Africans who are ready to fight, I was simply talking about the young African players who arrive in Europe with all the will to succeed and often escaping a bad situation.

We were in a sports debate and so the intelligence which I referred to is to do with tactics.

A lack of financial resources or infrastructure means African training is not as comprehensive as that provided in Europe and so they compensate for that through hard work.

I didn't want to talk about intelligence in the sense of individuals.

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The reactions of contemporaries and pundits on social media indicated people were far from satisfied with Sagnol's apology. BBC's John Bennett voiced the opinion of many:

Kick TV's Jimmy Conrad also made his feelings clear:

As reported by BBC Sport, Lens manager Antoine Kombouare, former Marseille president Pape Diouf and the International League against Racism and Anti-Semitism also spoke out against Sagnol. Meanwhile, former team-mate Lilian Thuram tried to remain as neutral as possible, as he told Sud Ouest:

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I played alongside Willy, he's somebody I respect. I know him very well.

I don't think you should put Willy Sagnol on trial, but you should put prejudice on trial.

Each one of us harbours some prejudice, which is why people working in football, who have a certain exposure to the media, should be educated on this subject.

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Bordeaux have enjoyed a fine start to the 2014-15 season under Sagnol, and they currently sit in fourth place in the Ligue 1. The manager has been widely hailed for his work so far in France, but these comments have turned the perception around in a hurry.

The team's captain is Senegal international Lamine Sane, who called Sagnol's remarks "clumsy" before defending his manager, via BBC Sport. Fans and pundits are still debating the matter on social media and in the French press, however, as it seems unlikely we've heard the last of this incident.

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