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LONDON. – Sol Campbell has branded the English Football Association institutionally racist and claimed that he would have been England captain for 10 years if he had been white.
The former Tottenham, Arsenal and Portsmouth defender, who won 73 caps with England, makes the claim in his autobiography, which is published later this month.
In it, he says he was overlooked for the captaincy, which was awarded to Michael Owen, because of the colour of his skin.
The 39-year-old, who won 73 full international caps for his country, including three as captain, said the English Football Association and the majority of fans did not want a black player heading the England team.
Campbell said: “I believe that if I was white I would have been England captain for 10 years.
“I don’t think it (the situation) will change because they don’t want it. It’s all right to have a black or mixed race captain of the Under-18s or Under-21s but not for the full national side.
“There is a ceiling and, although no one has ever said it, I believe it’s made of glass.
“I think the FA wished I was white. I had the credibility, performance-wise to be captain.
“I was consistently in the heart of the defence and I was a club captain early in my career.
“I don’t think it will change because they don’t want it to and probably the majority of fans don’t want it either.”
“Michael Owen was made captain ahead of me and I thought, ‘What’s going on here?’ I think the FA didn’t want me to have a voice.
“Owen was a fantastic forward but nowhere near being a captain. I’ve asked myself many times why I wasn’t (named captain). I keep coming up with the same answer. It was the colour of my skin.”
Campbell was England captain for three friendly games in 1998 and 2005 but never received the captaincy long term.
Campbell’s three games as captain came in three friendly matches – against Belgium and the Czech Republic in 1998 under manager Glenn Hoddle, and against the United States in 2005 under Sven-Goran Eriksson.
Paul Ince and Rio Ferdinand have also captained the side in short spells and Ferdinand was captain going into the last World Cup finals under Fabio Capello – before injury ruled him out. But England have never had an established black captain.
The FA are unlikely to respond directly to Campbell’s claim though they believe it to be untrue.
However, it will raise the issue of race once again for English football’s governing body, following a week in which the FA disciplinary panel were criticised for accepting that Nicolas Anelka had not intended to be anti-Semitic when performing the now infamous “quenelle” salute after scoring for West Brom against West Ham last December.
The FA have also been criticised for the length of time it took to charge Anelka and for the leniency of a four-game ban incurred by John Terry after an FA disciplinary panel found that he had racially abused Anton Ferdinand. – Mailonline.
Online Reporter