FIFA seeks stadium ban for fans over racist chants in England, Italy

FIFA President, Gianni Infantino

World football governing body, FIFA, has called for worldwide stadium bans for fans and “automatic forfeits” for teams whose supporters hurl “abhorrent” abuse following racist incidents in Italy and England on Saturday.

FIFA President, Gianni Infantino, made the call in a statement on Saturday.

Infantino said there was no place for discrimination of any kind in football or broader society.

He said: “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.”

Fans aimed monkey chants at AC Milan and France goalkeeper, Mike Maignan, during Milan’s 3-2 win at Udinese, with the game temporarily halted.

AC Milan goalkeeper, Mike Maignan

Coventry midfielder, Kasey Palmer, accused Sheffield Wednesday fans of doing the same towards him during their English Championship clash, which his team won 2-1.

Infantino added: “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.

“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!”

At Udinese, referee Fabio Maresca stopped play during the first half and a livid Maignan stormed down the tunnel with his teammates.

The game, however, resumed after about five minutes.

“They’re ignorant people… You can be booed or whistled when you’re away from home, that’s normal, but what happened today has no place in football,” Maignan said.

The Star