Glenn Hoddle was finally sacked last night as England's football coach. After more than 24 hours of talks, Hoddle and the English FA bowed to the inevitable, calling a halt to an "untenable" situation and terminating his contract in response to the outcry provoked by his controversial views on disabled people. The soccer-saga-turned-high-political-drama came to an end just before 7 p.m. at the Royal Lancaster Gate Hotel in London, with Mr David Davies, acting executive director of the FA, proclaiming this was "the right decision for English football".
Mr Davies's announcement was briefly interrupted as an outraged member of the public demanded "Hoddle out, Hoddle out." He was already gone, shown the red card by a ruling body clearly unimpressed by a series of interviews in which he threatened libel action against the London Times, only finally acknowledging that he had been accurately quoted while insisting he had been misinterpreted and misunderstood.
In a brief statement later, after which he took no questions, Hoddle accepted he made "a serious error of judgment in an interview which caused misunderstanding and pain to a number of people. This was never my intention and for this I apologise."
In the original interview, Hoddle said: "You and I have been physically given two hands and two legs and half-decent brains. Some people have not been born like that for a reason. The karma is working from another lifetime. I have nothing to hide about that. It is not only people with disabilities. What you sow, you have to reap."
The British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, and the Sports Minister, Mr Tony Banks, declared Hoddle's position untenable. In a tough statement, Mr Davies acknowledged the past few days had been painful for all concerned, but "that is as nothing compared to any offence that may have been caused to disabled people in our country". The FA accepted "this wasn't Glenn's intention". "It is unquestionable though that the controversy over what was or wasn't said has damaged both Glenn and his employers."
Hoddle's friend, faith-healer Ms Eileen Drewery, claimed he was forced out of his job by a media "witch-hunt", saying newspapers had been determined to bring him down. "They have done this not just to Glenn, they have done it to other England managers," she told Sky News. "As far as I'm concerned we don't deserve him, we have never treated him right in this country. He has been given a very raw deal."