Spain coach Luis Aragones has criticised the Spanish Football Federation’s (RFEF) decision to fine him €3,000 for remarks about France’s Thierry Henry.
“My first reaction is to say that I don’t agree with the sanction,” Aragones told Marca.
“I have done nothing wrong and I don’t accept the fact that they have based their judgement on my conduct.
“I have never done anything like this in my life. At the moment it does not seem fair, but I will study it in more detail at the federation on Wednesday.”
The federation cleared Aragones of the charge of racism but said he should have behaved more responsibly.
Aragones was heard in a training session telling striker Jose Antonio Reyes he was better than “that black shit”, a reference to Reyes Arsenal team mate Henry
Aragones claimed his words were taken out of context.
“I used the expression ‘black shit’ when I was talking to Reyes, as a way of saying you are better. It is like a form of motivation.
“If it had been translated correctly it would have said that Henry was a phenomenon, but it wasn’t,” he added.
“Resign? Results will determine whether I continue as national coach or not.”
RFEF competition committee president Alfredo Florez revealed that Aragones had not been punished for the racist nature of his remarks.
“In this committee no one believes that Luis is a racist, nor that he had a racist attitude. We punished him because his conduct went against what we believe is publicly acceptable,” Florez said.
“We believe he occupies an important post as Spain coach and that he was wrong when he made his comments in a training session open to the public and the press.”
