LONDON: FIFA president Sepp Blatter has described racism in football as “a devil” a year after sparking outrage with controversial remarks that appeared to play down the problem.

In an interview with the London Evening Standard on Tuesday, he again underlined his stance on racism, saying a simple handshake was not enough.

“What you can do by a handshake is try to make peace,” Blatter was quoted as saying.

“You cannot eradicate racism by a handshake. To eradicate this devil is an educational problem.

“The problem is, if the school is not educating, if the family is no longer educating, sport must educate.

“But sport cannot do everything.”

The Swiss was widely criticised in Britain last November when in an interview with CNN he denied there was racism in the sport and said any incidents could be settled by a handshake.

Blatter issued a statement clarifying his remarks shortly afterwards following criticism from the likes of former England captain David Beckham and defender Rio Ferdinand.