Hansen apologises for calling black players ‘coloured’

The centre-back turned television pundit caused an internet backlash with his choice of words when discussing the racism controversies surrounding English football.Former Liverpool defender Alan Hansen has apologised for referring to black players as “coloured” on television.The BBC pundit insists that he meant no offence when commenting on the ongoing racism controversies surrounding English football on ‘Match of the Day’.“I unreservedly apologise for any offence caused – this was never my intention and I deeply regret the use of the word,” Hansen said in a statement.The former Scotland international had caused an internet backlash with his choice of words.He had said: “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.”His comments provoked a strong reaction on Twitter from, among others, former Tottenham midfielder Rohan Ricketts, now with Shamrock Rovers, who wrote: “Is this Alan Hansen guy taking the  I'm not coloured. He is part of the problem when using that word. We are BLACK, Alan!“Alan Hansen is more coloured than a black person. But still we would not call him or another white man coloured." According to The Sun, former England striker Stan Collymore reacted by saying: “Coloured? What colour would that be? Blue? Green? Orange?”The comments came in the wake of the eight-match ban imposed on Reds forward Luis Suarez by the FA and the confirmation that Chelsea captain John Terry will face charges for racial abuse.