Spanish coach Javier Clemente has sought to clarify the comments he made about Cameroon striker Samuel Eto'o.
Clemente, manager of club side Athletic Bilbao, criticised Eto'o for spitting at defender Unai Exposito during a league match.
Describing Eto'o's act as "something that people who had just come down out of the trees did," Clemente was accused of racially abusing the Cameroonian.
Television cameras caught the reigning Caf African Footballer of the Year committing the act in the closing minutes of Barcelona's 2-1 victory over Bilbao at the Nou Camp.
But Clemente insists that his remarks were not specifically targeted at Eto'o.
"At first I didn't know that it was Eto'o who did it," the former Spain coach told the Cadena Ser radio station.
"He's a great bloke but I expect he will regret what he did.
"I don't make any distinction between the behaviour of black and white people.
"If it had been (Barcelona defender Carles) Puyol who had done it I would have said exactly the same thing.
"It's more sporting to punch an opponent than to spit at him."
"Bad behaviour has to be eliminated from the pitch. We are all sensitive about racism and we don't give a good example by behaving like that.
 |  I hope Clemente will rectify what he said |
"When I talked about people who had just come down from the trees I mean everyone, be they white, black or yellow...
"Sometimes I should be up in the tree too when I give a bad example."
Meanwhile, Eto'o has insisted that he did not intend to spit at Exposito and said Clemente had contacted him to explain the circumstances in which his comments were made.
"I've had the chance to speak to Clemente and he has said some very nice things to me," he told a Spanish television programme.
"I hope we will talk again and I hope Clemente will rectify what he said.
"These things happen in football and people say them in the heat of the moment.
"If I spat at an opponent I apologise for that too."
MMIX
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Match of the Day - Post-match interviews