Arrigo Sacchi Comments on Lack of Natives in Under-20 Italian Football Leagues

Former AC Milan and Italy manager Arrigo Sacchi has criticised the makeup of his nation's footballing youth set-up. Specifically, the 68-year-old made controversial comments on what he believes is a loss of "national pride and identity," per Italian outlet La Gazzetta dello Sport (h/t Agence France-Presse, via The Age).

The target of Sacchi's comments was Italy's under-20 squads: "Italy now has no dignity or pride, because we have too many foreigners playing in the under-20 leagues: in our youth sectors there are too many blacks."

Sacchi then insisted his comments were not racially motivated: "I'm certainly not racist, as my coaching history demonstrates with Rijkaard."

BBC Sport provided additional comments Sacchi made:

"

I'm not racist and my history as a coach shows that, but watching at the Viareggio Cup makes me think there are too many coloured players. Business interests now come first. Italy has no dignity, it has no pride: you shouldn't have squads including 15 foreigners.

"

According to La Gazzetta dello Sport, via BBC Sport, Sacchi later clarified what he meant:

"

I have been misrepresented, do you really think I'm racist? I was just saying that I'd watched a match in which there was a team that included four coloured boys. My history speaks for itself, I've always trained teams with diverse coloured players and they won a lot, both at Milan and in Madrid.

"

On Wednesday, FIFA President Sepp Blatter weighed in on Sacchi's remarks:

Sacchi was referring to his decision to sign Frank Rijkaard, a Dutch international of Surinamese origin, during his time at AC Milan. The cerebral and technically gifted holding midfielder joined a host of stars, including fellow Holland international Ruud Gullit, another player with Surinamese heritage.

The two formed part of the spine of Sacchi's decorated AC Milan teams that dominated Serie A and the European Cup in the late '80s and early '90s.

Sacchi insists his recent comments have been "misinterpreted." But there's no doubt his words will be read as contentious. They will also create more controversy for a domestic game blighted by racial unrest in recent seasons.

Players such as Liverpool striker Mario Balotelli and Schalke 04 star Kevin-Prince Boateng both suffered through incidents of racial abuse during their time in Serie A.

Sacchi's critique of the country's youth squads won't have helped improve the image of Italian football.