Dyke cut-throat gesture a joke, insists FA chair
FOOTBALL Association chairman Greg Dyke has defended the cut-throat gesture he made in response to learning of England’s difficult group stage draw for next summer’s World Cup in Brazil.
Dyke was caught on camera miming slitting his throat after Roy Hodgson’s team were drawn in the same group as four-time winners Italy, South American champions Uruguay and Costa Rica earlier this month.
It led to accusations of defeatism among the England camp, with former BBC director general Dyke having previously stated that nobody “realistically thinks we are going to win the World Cup”.
But Dyke said yesterday: “It was a piece of humour. That’s me. If you want a straight-laced suit, you can have a straight-laced suit. Or you can have someone like me.
“It was an instant reaction. Interestingly, there have been a number of football fans who’ve come up to me and said ‘you’re a proper football fan because you felt like we did’.
“It’s quite a difficult draw. That doesn’t mean we’re not going to get through – I think actually we will – but it’s a tough draw and we ought to recognise that.”