Mr. Tavecchio, 72, was elected to lead the federation last year despite telling an audience of youth and amateur soccer representatives that Italian soccer was in trouble because the main professional league had recruited too many Africans who were plucked from obscurity while “eating bananas.”

In response to the recording, Mr. Tavecchio complained in a statement on the federation’s website that it had been made without his knowledge, during what he took to be a private conversation, not an interview.

He also said that those accusing him of anti-Semitism and homophobia had failed to give proper weight to the two asides in which he said, “I have nothing against” either group.

“I have never discriminated against anyone” for being gay, he said. “I respect everyone’s choices,” he said, before adding that he did not think homosexuality should be a crime.

Mr. Tavecchio also thanked Israel’s ambassador to Italy, Naor Gilon, who noted on Sunday that Mr. Tavecchio had been helpful in quashing efforts against Israel in world soccer’s governing body, FIFA.