The newly established FIFA Task Force Against Racism and Discrimination, chaired by FIFA Vice-President and CONCACAF President Jeffrey Webb, held its first meeting today in FIFA headquarters in Zurich.
In today's meeting, the topic was sanctions in cases of racism and discrimination that go on during football games, the Task Force is implementing rules to make the already existing sanctions stronger and more consistent.
The Task force made the following proposals, which will be included in a draft to be presented at the FIFA congress later this month:
- Having an official or an extra referee present at the game who would look out for potential acts of racism, making it easier for the refs and facilitating availability of evidence;
- Applying sanctions in two stages, with a list of possible punishments for the first or a minor offence, such as a warning, fine, or closing stadium doors to public, and a stronger sanction such as points deducted or relegation for repeat offenders.
- -Emphasis on the responsibility of member associations and clubs for the actions of their players, officials and supporters, and the need to implement the sanctions in all confederations and leagues, with a proposal that clubs and members provide an action plan showing their intention to fight racism and discrimination amongst supporters.
Former Ghanaian international and current AC Milan player Prince Boateng is the spokesperson against racism in the sport, and was invited by FIFA president Sepp Blatter to be part of the Task Force.
Prince was victim of the most recent abuse in a preperation game with as Milan on January third; he walked off the pitch in the 26th minute as the stadium would make monkey chants every time he touched the ball.
"Unfortunately, our extremely popular sport - which involves nearly a billion people throughout the world - is affected by several scourges: violence, cheating, doping, match fixing and discrimination," explained the FIFA President. "At FIFA, we try to tackle all of them, but the question of discrimination angers me in particular. It's abhorrent and we have to combat this evil, but it's difficult to find the adequate response."
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