Thaindian News

London, Dec 22 (THAINDIAN NEWS) Alan Hansen is one of the best paid British sports contributors so when he gaffed badly on the screen, many people have been left wondering if he is worth his sort. The 56-year-old former football star who is paid a whopping £40,000 by BBC as a pundit completely missed it when he referred to blacks as ‘coloured’ people.

He made the gaffe during the Match of the Day discussion. Fellow commentator Lee Dixon looked visibly uncomfortable as Hansen used the word twice to describe the black players in the English Premier League. The two were discussion recent race issues in the game.

Uruguayan and Liverpool star Luis Suarez was recently banned eight matches by the FA for racially attacking Manchester United’s Patrice Evra on the pitch. English captain John Terry has also been accused of racial abuse but the FA seems to have ignored that complaint.

Hansen was discussing the two issues when he said that, “I think there’s a lot of coloured players in all the major teams and there are lots of coloured players who are probably the best in the Premier League. If you look at 25 or 30 years ago it was probably in a bad way - not as bad as some of the other nations on the Continent - but certainly there is always, always room for improvement.”

Several people have attacked Hansen despite the fact that he has issued an apology for the gaffe adding that he did not meant any evil intent.