By Ben Nicholson
October 15 – Harold Forsyth, who is Peru’s ambassador to the United States, has apologized for his racial comments toward Panamanian striker Luis Tejada (pictured) made over the weekend.
The comments flowed from an incident in which Tejada and Forsyth’s son, George Forsyth, clashed during a Peruvian first division match. Both players were sent off in the tenth minute for the infractions, but Forsyth reserved blame for Tejada only.
He tweeted on his Twitter account, “George Forsyth is an exemplary Peruvian. Peru opened its doors to Tejada and he behaves like a horse”, along with, “That Tejada is an animal. All week he had talked against Forsyth, who ignored him and said nothing. No-one knows the reason for his hatred. He’s sick.”
Tejada responded via his website, “It was very painful and sad that a person of standing and position should express himself in that way against another.
“The terms used against me are pure racism and I think the authorities should do something about it.
“I’m a human being like everyone, I ask for respect and have a family who felt deeply affected by those words. I am grateful to Peru and its people for everything and my opinion of Peruvians won’t change because of some isolated comments.”
Tejada also stated that as a result of his sending off that the referee “spoilt the match”, which would have been a different story if he had remained on the pitch.
Forsyth published an apology, acknowledging that the emotion he felt during the match did not justify the insults he bestowed upon Tejada, writing, “I apologise to the footballer Tejada for yesterday’s inappropriate phrases.”
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