“Let’s stop racism, let’s stop racism now.”
It was with these words that FIFA President Gianni Infantino concluded his speech at the UEFA Congress.
Previously, the Italian leader had insisted on the need for an implacable response in the event of racist acts, gestures or words carried out by certain groups of supporters, the loss of the match of the receiving team by forfeit.
“The disciplinary consequences should be forfeited by the team.”
Furthermore, the president of Fifa has committed to the permanent stopping of a match in the event of incidents linked to racism in the stands or on the pitch.
Alongside sporting sanctions, Infantino wants the justice system to be firmer in the face of racist acts in football: “We must also impose criminal sanctions and ban the perpetrators from the stadium.”
A call for firmness also echoed by the president of the French Football Federation Philippe Diallo and by the leader of UEFA Alexandr Ceferin.
The first affirmed: “We must tirelessly fight against all forms of discrimination, racism and homophobia, which have no place on the field and in the stands.”
The second Ceferin wishes to purge the world of football of all forms of racism: “The authors of this discrimination are only fearful.
We need to rid football of these fearful people.”