Ron Atkinson’s Inappropriate Remarks Got Him Sacked
Ron Atkinson was a respected figure in both his playing and post-playing career – he captained Oxford United for 12 years, and went on to be a well-known ITV sports pundit. However, this all came crashing down in 2004 when, thinking he was no longer on air, made an anti-Black racist remark concerning former Chelsea player Marcel Desailly.
Atkinson has apologized to Desailly and gone separate ways from ITV after coming to a mutual agreement. However, he didn’t make the situation any better when he said his actions were simply a mistake and that he’s worked with many Black players in the past before this occurred.