Secondhand Sun

Zinedine Zidane spoke on French TV station Canal+ last night to explain why he headbutted Marco Materazzi in the World Cup final. He was quiet and dignified. He said there was a grave insult to his mother and sister, but did not specify what it was.

The Guardian: His repeated apologies were clearly heartfelt but they were carefully limited in scope. "My action was unforgiveable," he said. "It wasn't the right gesture to make. I say this aloud because two or three billion people saw it, and millions of children. I apologise to them, and to their teachers, the people who have to tell them about good behaviour. I have children myself, and I know what it's like. I will always tell them not to be taken advantage of, and to avoid this kind of situation."

But when asked if he regretted his decision to turn and butt Materazzi in the chest, he was adamant. "I can't regret it, because that would mean he was right to have said what he did."

"It's always the reaction that people talk about. Of course the reaction has to be punished. But if there had been no provocation, there would have been no reaction. If I reacted, it was because something occurred. Do you think that in a World Cup final, 10 minutes away from the end of my career, I would do a thing like that because it pleased me? Never. My action was unforgiveable, but I'm saying to you that the person who committed the provocation should also be punished."

FIFA apparently agrees - they will be investigating Materazzi's comments as well and based on the outcome, he could face a suspension and fine. Materazzi has also stated he believes Zidane should keep the Golden Ball award.

I spent several hours last night trying to find a full transcript of Zidane's remarks, but was unsuccessful. Here's another partial transcript from the BBC. (follow the link for more than I've excerpted here)

Interviewer: Everyone wants to know exactly what he said...

Zinedine Zidane: They were very serious things, very personal things.

Interviewer: About your mother and your sister?

Zinedine Zidane: Yes. They were very hard words. You hear them once and you try to move away.

But then you hear them twice, and then a third time... I am a man and some words are harder to hear than actions. I would rather have taken a blow to the face than hear that.

There's a lot to chew on here, but it's no surprise that Zidane has refused to repeat the insult. One columnist seems to be saying it's unique to Berber culture to refuse to repeat insults about other people, but I don't know about that - would many Americans repeat vile insults about their mothers and sisters on national television? My guess is that they would not.

As for the racism issue, it's still very unclear. Some English language papers have claimed that Zidane denied he or his family was called terrorists, but I've not seen that backed up in any interview excerpts so far, either in English or in French. In general, in the English language news coverage of this incident and the rumors flying around, there appears to be a great deal of confusion between "didn't confirm" and "denied" and "confirmed" and "didn't deny" - for example, Materazzi has denied insulting Zidane's mother, but he didn't mention his sister; I just saw a headline claiming Materazzi had confirmed he insulted Zidane's sister. My guess would be that at least some of it stems from translation problems. Bottom line: I can't tell if he said anything one way or the other on the racism issue.

Above all, I am a man.

I have to say that I understand and respect this. He regrets the effects of his action on his team and his country and on everyone who saw the match - he's sorry we had to see that - but he did what he had to do, in that moment, to preserve his essential human dignity. And he's paid a price. But those headlines on July 10th about Zizou walking off the field in shame? They were wrong. Zinedine Zidane did what he had to do; he paid his price; he made his apologies, but he's made no apology for who he is. In a 2004 interview, he said:

'It's hard to explain but I have a need to play intensely every day, to fight every match hard,' he told me. 'And this desire never to stop fighting is something else I learnt in the place where I grew up. And, for me, the most important thing is that I still know who I am. Every day I think about where I come from and I am still proud to be who I am: first, a Kabyle from La Castellane, then an Algerian from Marseille, and then a Frenchman.'

Walked off the field in shame? Never. Upon his brow shame is ashamed to sit.