Centre of attention: England captain Terry has been accused of aiming racially abusive language at Ferdinand

After that FIFA released an official statement on their website. Blatter, alongside a  picture of him embracing a black man, claimed his comments had been 'misunderstood'.

His statement said: 'I would like to make it very clear, I am committed to the fight against racism and any type of discrimination in football and in society. I also know that racism unfortunately continues to exist in football, and I have never denied this... my comments have been misunderstood.'

Last night, the latest storm to engulf FIFA's president was being digested by Sports Minister Hugh Robertson and the FA.

But there was condemnation from Football Against Racism In Europe, who described Blatter's comments as 'insensitive and not what you want to hear from someone who should be leading the game'.

PFA chief Gordon Taylor condemned Blatter's comments, saying: 'It's very insensitive and inappropriate at this time. As the president of FIFA he's got to be shouting from the top of the hills that it's unacceptable.'

Rio Ferdinand, the former England captain and brother of Anton, was one of several footballers to express his considerable dismay on his Twitter page.

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