Glenn Hoddle's future as England football coach was on the line last night as Cabinet Ministers condemned his claims that people born with disabilities were being punished for the sins of a former life - and details emerged of another interview in which he expressed similar remarks.

Amid an outcry from disability groups, politicians and fans, Hoddle, a born-again Christian, sought to defuse the row by saying he was 'so sorry'. His words had been 'misinterpreted' and 'taken out of context'.

However, The Observer can reveal that he expressed the same controversial views in a hitherto unpublicised interview last year on Radio 5 Live's sports show, Brian Alexander's Sportsweek. In the interview, a tape of which has been obtained by this newspaper, Hoddle discussed his religious beliefs.

'I have got an inner belief and an inner faith with God. I do believe spiritually we have to progress because we've been here before. The physical body is just an overcoat for your spirit. At death you take the overcoat off and your spirit will go on to another life in a spirit dimension.

'I think we make mistakes when we are down here and our spirit has to come back and learn. That's why there is an injustice in the world. Why there's certain people born into the world with terrible physical problems and why there's a family who has got everything right, physically and mentally.'

The disclosure will stoke the growing row over Hoddle's beliefs. Ministers said last night they were dismayed. Culture Secretary Chris Smith told the Observer: 'What he seems to have got forgotten in all this is that Britain has some of the most talented disabled athletes in the world.' Asked whether he thought Hoddle should resign, Smith replied: 'The implications of my remarks are clear.'

Welfare groups representing Britain's disabled yesterday described Hoddle as 'unfit to lead the national team'. Lord Alf Morris, Labour MP and the world's first Minister for the disabled, called his words 'grossly and unbelievably insensitive and hurtful'.

In a series of angry outbursts yesterday, Hoddle vehemently denied he had told the Times that the handicapped had come back to Earth to suffer. 'I can assure you that is not what I said and that is not what I mean.' His comments had been 'turned on their head . . . misconstrued, misinterpreted'.

However Matt Dickinson, the Times sports writer who wrote the story, said last night: 'I reported the interview faithfully and accurately and now its for others to draw their own opinions.'

Hoddle, 41, told the Times that people were reincarnated 'to learn and face some of the things you have done - good and bad.' He said: 'You and I have been physically given two hands and two legs and half-decent brains. Some people have not been born like that for a reason. The karma is working from another lifetime. I have nothing to hide about that. It is not only people with disabilities. What you sow, you have to reap.'

Hoddle last night got the backing of the Football Association, which said he was an excellent supporter of disabled sport. 'By his actions over many years - publicised and unpublicised - Glenn Hoddle has worked tirelessly on behalf of the disabled and he will continue to do so,' a spokesman said.

Eileen Drewery, Hoddle's faith healer, added: 'Glenn is a very good man; these comments don't reflect his views at all.'

But Sports Minister Tony Banks said Hoddle was 'from another world. 'I have listened carefully to Glen Hoddle's views as expressed on the tape obtained by The Observer. They are totally unacceptable. If his theory is correct, he is in for real problems in the next life. He will probably be doomed to come back as Glenn Hoddle.'