Gianni Infantino, President of world football governing body, FIFA, has called for automatic forfeiture of games for teams whose fans commit racist abuse.
The issue of racial abuse has bedevilled football especially in recent times as players are constantly abused by fans from the stands.
Most recently, AC Milan’s win at Udinese was briefly suspended after alleged racist abuse from home fans towards Milan goalkeeper Mike Maignan.
Coventry’s Kasey Palmer said he received similar abuse at Hillsborough.
Infantino said in a post on X that there should be harsher punishments.
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“As well as the three-step process (match stopped, match re-stopped, match abandoned), we have to implement an automatic forfeit for the team whose fans have committed racism and caused the match to be abandoned, as well as worldwide stadium bans and criminal charges for racists,” he said.
“Fifa and football shows full solidarity to victims of racism and any form of discrimination. Once and for all: No to racism! No to any form of discrimination!
“The events that took place in Udine and Sheffield on Saturday are totally abhorrent and completely unacceptable.
“We need all the relevant stakeholders to take action, starting with education in schools so that future generations understand that this is not part of football or society.”
Infantino added that the players affected by Saturday’s events had his undivided support.
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