Arsene Wenger hasn't made many friends at Conmebol in recent days.
The French technician, now director of development for Fifa, had his suspenders pulled up by the South American Football Confederation, which regrets the "very unfortunate remarks" of Wenger, who made the distinction at the end of May between "the Europe” and “the rest of the world”.
“Conmebol rejects and condemns the very unfortunate remarks of the senior official of Fifa, very close to the presidency of the institution” occupied by the Swiss Gianni Infantino, said the confederation in a press release.
European contempt
Wenger had said, during a congress of German coaches on May 24 in Freiburg: the French striker “Kylian Mbappé has African origins, but he was trained in Europe.
If he had been born in Cameroon, he would not have become this player”.
“There is Europe and the rest of the world, and the rest of the world needs help, otherwise we will lose too much talent,” added the 72-year-old former French Arsenal coach.
Conmebol, chaired by the Paraguayan Alejandro Dominguez, believes that Wenger, "in addition to revealing an unusual ignorance of the valuable contribution of African players to world football, in particular to European football, shows a disparaging bias that makes invisible the efforts of footballers and sports institutions that are not in Europe.
The most reprehensible prejudices are disguised as well-founded and informed reflections”.
"We South Americans know very well and firsthand this type of attitude that stems from the belief that the world begins and ends in Europe," adds Conmebol.
"The talent, the spirit of sacrifice and the desire to excel of African and South American players must be valued and respected," she said.
Sport
Video refereeing: The "semi-automatic offside", how does it work?
Sport
Football: Consequence of Covid-19, the rule of five replacements per team "definitively validated"
Arsène Wenger
Fifa
Soccer
Sport