Aragones punishment to be upheld Aragones fined for Henry remark

Aragones made a racist remark about Henry and has not publicly apologised.

Uefa want the pair to stage a symbolic embrace during a Soccer Against Racism event in Barcelona in February.

"It is unfair to put Thierry in such an invidious position. If there was an apology, I'm sure Thierry would consider accepting it," said Taylor.

"But, at the moment, the culpability is only on one side.

"Any initiative like this would have to come from the Spanish FA and from Luis Aragones himself.

I'm not sure of the rationale behind this idea unless there is a genuine apology first Anti-racism campaigner Piara Powar

"I would imagine that, until he receives a fulsome apology, the last thing that Thierry Henry would want to do is shake hands with him."

In any event, Henry is unlikely to be able to attend the conference at Barcelona's Nou Camp on 1 February as the Gunners host West Ham in a Premiership clash at Highbury that night.

Piara Powar, director of the Kick it Out anti-racism campaign, added: "Luis Aragones has so far been anything but repentant and doesn't seem to have understood the impact of his comments.

"One would assume that, if he did turn up at such an event, it would only be in a flippant way. I'm not sure of the rationale behind this idea unless there is a genuine apology first."

Aragones has shown little remorse for his comments to Henry's Arsenal team-mate Jose Antonio Reyes during a Spanish training session in 2004.

He was fined just �2,060 for his outburst, a decision criticised by Henry.

Following the incident Spanish fans directed racist abuse at England players during their friendly in Madrid last November.

Uefa chief executive Lars-Christer Olsson is reported to have said: "We want this event to surpass any anti-racist initiative we have held before and a gesture like this would do everything to help."