Chelsea boss Roberto Di Matteo has admitted players reacting under pressure could lead them into situations they regret. Di Matteo refused to comment on John Terry's specific case on Friday as his captain began to consider whether or not to appeal against the commission's decision to suspend him for four games and fine him £220,000.
"Even people who are very rational and composed, during a game sometimes can lose their composure a little bit," he said.
"When you are pushed to the edge of your ability, your mental and physical ability, sometimes you react in a way that maybe you regret afterwards.
"So maybe it's difficult for people to understand who have never played football or sport at the highest level.
"Certainly, we have to do something about it to try to eradicate it.
"Whether it's a realistic chance, I don't know.
"But we have to work towards trying to improve the respect that we have for each other on the pitch."
He added: "It's probably a little bit of a deeper issue, not just with footballers.
"We are people that live in a society and probably, if there is a problem, there is a problem with our society to accept other people or people from different ethnic origins.
"I think that's where we have to start, educating our children to be a little bit more accepting to people from other places.
"It doesn't matter where you come from, what colour skin you have.
"It's about respecting the opposition."
