Having read John Crean's 'World of Sport' column ('Football's bad losers display racism for anything Asian or American', South China Morning Post, June 27), I am at a loss to understand why he is accusing Italy and Spain of racism towards Asian and American footballers at the World Cup and why he used strong words like 'European mafia'.
Having lived in Asia for 15 years, I have enjoyed the company of Asian and Caucasian colleagues and friends from all nationalities. My Asian friends and I argue about sport, including football, the same way British or other Europeans do among themselves.
Most of my friends here agree that the World Cup was a fiasco as far as refereeing was concerned. Why were experienced referees Urs Meir, Kim Milton Nielsen and Pierluigi Collina chosen for the semi-finals and final and why were poorly qualified linesmen not selected for these crucial matches? Even Fifa president Sepp Blatter seemed to echo these concerns about refereeing.
Italian friends of mine were in Korea for the Italy-Korea match. After the game, they were assaulted by angry Korean fans who were screaming at them to 'go home'. The Italian team were greeted in the stadium with huge banners saying that Korea was their 'tomb'.
Regarding the accusation of racism, Italians and Spaniards were not angry at Asian players, but at the standard of refereeing. Their frustrations were echoed by Pele, Diego Maradona and Johan Cruyff. Italian coach Giovanni Trapattoni also admitted that tactical decisions were to blame for his team's troubles.
I was shocked by the comments of the president of Italian club Perugia, Luciano Gaucci, regarding South Korea's Ahn Jung-hwan, but, as many people said, 'Who cares about Perugia?'