2024-01-21T14:49:14+00:00
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/ FIFA President Gianni Infantino stressed on Sunday the need to tighten penalties on teams whose fans issue racist insults, against the backdrop of two incidents that occurred yesterday, Saturday.
Coventry City’s Casey Palmer was subjected to a racist gesture during the match against Sheffield Wednesday, while Milan players walked out in solidarity after Mike Maignan reported monkey noises from a section of Udinese fans, according to the Emirati website “Erem News”.
In a post on the X platform, Infantino said he sees tougher penalties for clubs whose fans commit racist abuse.
“The events in Udinese and Sheffield on Saturday are absolutely abhorrent and completely unacceptable,” Infantino said in a statement on behalf of FIFA. “There is no place for racism or any form of discrimination, whether in football or in society. The players affected by Saturday’s events have my full support.”
“We need all stakeholders involved to take action, starting with education in schools so that future generations understand that this is not part of football or society,” he added.
“In addition to the three-step process (match suspension, match re-suspension, match abandonment), we must implement an automatic sanction for the team whose fans committed racism and caused the match to be abandoned, as well as stadium bans around the world, and criminal charges for racists,” he continued.
Infantino stressed: “FIFA and football show their full solidarity with the victims of racism and any form of discrimination, once and for all: No to racism! No to any form of discrimination.”
Casey Palmer informed referee Anthony Backhouse that a fan had made gestures towards him, which led to play being stopped.
The 27-year-old appeared upset after the final whistle, with Palmer speaking out about the abuse, writing: “I’m disappointed even having to come here and write this.”
“Racism is a disgrace, it has no place in the world, let alone football. I am black and proud, I will be honest, it seems things will never change, no matter how hard we try,” he added.
“The people who make the ‘monkey’ noises don’t define my fan base. I appreciate all the love and support I’ve received,” he said.