Teams whose fans commit racist abuse should automatically forfeit games, says Fifa president Gianni Infantino.
His call for the implementation of such automatic forfeiture follows incidents at Udinese and Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday, which he described as ‘totally abhorrent’.
According to the BBC, 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.
He said: ‘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.
‘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. The players affected by Saturday’s events have my undivided support.
‘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.’
The BBC reports that AC Milan’s players walked off the pitch after France international goalkeeper Maignan reported hearing ‘monkey noises’ coming from a section of the crowd at the Stadio Friuli. The players eventually returned and Milan went on to win 3-2.
Anti-discrimination charity Kick It Out has also given its support to both Palmer and Maignan.
‘It’s up to authorities and clubs to punish those responsible, but if clubs cannot prevent this happening, they too should face consequences,” Kick It Out said in a statement.
‘We welcome stronger and more meaningful punishments, as called for by Fifa.’
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