Topics Ethics

Question Recently, in the final game of World Cup, French midfielder Zinedine Zidane headbutted Italian defender Marco Materazzi for insulting him. In the aftermath, Zidane apologized in an interview with a French television but added that he didn't regret hic actions. Can one coherently apologize for an action yet not regret that action? Or is Zidane false in one of his claims (the apology or the lack of regret)?

Accepted:
August 7, 2006

Comments

That depends on exactly what he was apologizing for, and what he meant when he said he didn't regret the action. I'm sure that he was genuinely sorry that his action caused embarrassment and shame to France. That is quite consistent with believing that he was justified in his action, and that he would do it again in similar circumstances. That is probably what he meant by saying that he didn't regret the action. Of course, he might just have been inconsistent. There was an enormous amount of pressure on him to apologize. I suspect that most public apologies are insincere.

An apology is an acknowledgement of responsibility and an expression of regret. However, the words "I'm sorry" are not always meant to convey an apology. When I tell a friend who has recently lost a close relative that I'm sorry for his loss, I'm not accepting responsibility or expressing regret for anything I've done. I'm merely expressing my feelings of sympathy. So whether Zidane was inconsistent depends on precisely what he said. There would be nothing inconsistent at all about Zidane expressing sympathy with the French people for what happened but denying that he regrets his action.

Of course, the problem with this is that most of us feel that Zidane should do more than say "I'm sorry" out of sympathy. He did something wrong, and he should say "I'm sorry" out of regret. He should, in other words, apologize.

Let's see what he did say. According to the BBC's translation, it went like this:

"It was inexcusable. I apologise. But I can't regret what I did because it would mean that hewas right to say all that."

If that's an accurate translation (and my French is not good enough for me to check), then clearely Zidane's apology was insincere. His proviso ("But I can't regret what I did") pretty much ensured that the apology would not be taken seriously. And so, to answer your question, if the BBC translation is a good one, then there is something problematic about what Zidane said. It is inconsistent to say: "I apologize for what I did, but I don't regret what I did."

Now that we're on the subject, there's something else puzzling about Zidane's comment. He says that he can't regret his action "because it would mean that he [Materazzi] was right to say all that." But it doesn't mean that at all. If someone is saying inappropriate things to me (on or off the pitch), I do not acknowledge that he is right to say them by refusing to respond violently!