Bigot Ron Atkinson: Forced To Quit After Racist Remarks...

[Louis Cypher]

The Sun

Bigot Ron Atkinson
By NEIL SYSON


BIG Ron Atkinson was forced to quit as an ITV soccer pundit last night after making a shocking bigoted attack on black Chelsea star Marcel Desailly.

A storm erupted after Atkinson, 65, branded the defender a “f****** lazy big n****r” after Monaco hammered Chelsea in Tuesday’s Champions League match.

His rant was picked up by a mike and broadcast to expat fans watching an Arab channel. Atkinson admitted: “I must have rocks for brains.”

He failed to realise his microphone was still switched on.

And his outburst was heard by tens of thousands of expats watching the game on Arabic station ATR, which took a feed from ITV.

Atkinson also labelled Frenchman Desailly a “cheating bum”.

Some viewers were convinced he called Chelsea manager Claudio Ranieri a “wop” — a derogatory term for an Italian.

And he is said to have denounced Argentinian midfielder Juan Veron as a “lazy f***”.

Former Man United manager Atkinson, known as Big Ron, held his hands up last night and declared: “I must have rocks for brains. I’d like to apologise to Marcel Desailly.”

He later quit his job — worth between £150,000 and £200,000 a year — to avoid getting the bullet from ITV.

Atkinson, acting as a pundit as Clive Tyldsley commentated, launched his rant over what he saw as a “disgusting” Chelsea performance.

It was not heard in Britain as producers here had switched over to the studio panel.

But expat Ian Harper, 36, who saw the game in Dubai, said: “I heard Ron screaming at Chelsea players. The F-word peppered his conversation. I was not shocked by that — but I was by the racist tones.”

Adrian Parry, 52, who teaches in the United Arab Emirates, said: “I heard him say, ‘What the f*** was that all about?’ He called Ranieri an idiot and, I believe, a wop.”

Piara Powar, of the Football Against Racism campaign, said: “There is no excuse for what he called Desailly. If the player had a bad game he should not be criticised on the basis of his skin colour.”

The Commission for Racial Equality called Atkinson’s outburst “appalling”.

Atkinson confessed last night: “I was stupid. I am very disappointed with myself. I was blazing at the end of the game but had no idea my comments were being transmitted.”

He added: “I feel as low as I have ever felt since I came into football. I am particularly upset because nobody is less of a racist than me.

“I have done as much as anyone to help black footballers — at West Brom I introduced great players like Cyrille Regis and Laurie Cunningham.”

But Big Ron has blundered before. In 2002 German viewers heard him call Italian Francesco Totti a “little tw*t” for diving.

ITV Sport spokesman Gary Double called Atkinson’s latest tirade “a regrettable lapse by a respected broadcaster”.

He added: “He is devastated and offered his resignation, which we have accepted.”

An ITV source said: “If he had not resigned he would have been dismissed.”

Atkinson's contract to write a weekly column for The Guardian has also been terminated by “mutual agreement”, the newspaper said today.

Would he have been fired if he called him a hard-working, big N....r?

[nfleqbc]

LOL reno!