FIFA president Gianni Infantino has said there must be “zero tolerance” for racism at all levels of competition.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino has said there must be “zero tolerance” for racism in football and referees at all levels must stop games if such incidents occur.
Infantino met Real Madrid’s Vinicius Jr. to discuss racism in the sport after the Brazil international spoke out while being targeted by crowds in Spain last month.
The FIFA president has branded racists “criminals” and said football authorities must “take responsibility”.
Vinicius, who is black, has been the target of persistent racist abuse from fans at Spanish stadiums all season, with little done by referees or the football establishment to protect him.
Last month, Real Madrid lodged a complaint with the Spanish Attorney General’s Office, claiming that the racial slur against Vinicius during their La Liga loss to Valencia constituted a hate crime.
“It’s very important not only to talk about racism and discrimination, but to act in a decisive and convincing way – zero tolerance,” Infantino said after meeting Vinicius and the rest of the Brazil squad in Barcelona.
“If there is racism, there is no football – so let’s stop the game. Referees have that opportunity in FIFA games because we have a procedure for stopping games and action has to be taken at every level, also at the national level,” Infante said. Tino said.
“This is a football-related problem and we cannot make excuses like: ‘This is a social problem, therefore, there is no problem with football.’ In football we have to act in a very forceful way,” Infantino said. explain.
“We want to identify racists in stadiums and on social media. They are criminals. They must be banned from stadiums around the world. Authorities need to take these people to court and we will say this to them all. Racism It’s a crime,” he added.
Infantino asked Vinicius to lead a “FIFA special committee against racism”.
“I ask Vinicius to lead this group of players who will introduce tougher penalties for racism that will later be imposed by all football authorities around the world.”
— Managing Madrid (@managingmadrid) June 15, 2023
Infantino said FIFA would set up a working group, with Vinicius playing a key role, to make concrete recommendations.
FIFA set up an anti-racism task force in 2013 following the infamous abuse in Italy of AC Milan midfielder Kevin-Prince Boateng, who is black.
Boateng worked with the task force that FIFA shut down in 2016, months after Infantino’s election.
FIFA said at the time that the task force “has fully completed its provisional mandate”.
Shutting down anti-racism group was ‘a huge mistake’, says one of its members, British-Nigerian journalist Osasu Obayiuwana, tweeted.
“Is this a fucking joke? @FIFAcom, pushed by Gianni Infantino, disbanded the FIFA Anti-Racism Task Force I was involved with from 2013 to 2016 despite telling him in July 2016 to step up It and let it work. FIFA says it has “done its mission”. It took them 7 years to realize that racism still exists in football?”
