74th
FIFA
The Congress was held in Bangkok and one of its topics was the adoption of specific sanctions for cases of racism. According to Radio Kolbe, these measures include the automatic awarding of a loss in matches to the teams concerned in the event of racist acts and the introduction of uniform norms for players to report racist incidents.
FIFA has put forward a proposal for action aimed at clearly defining racism as a specific infraction to be included in the disciplinary codes of its 211 members. According to the proposal, FIFA plans to adopt a universally applicable approach to help players report racist incidents to referees during matches.
In addition, FIFA will establish an expert panel of retired players to advise on and monitor the implementation of these proposed measures. This new definition of infractions clearly distinguishes racism from other infractions and imposes specific and strict sanctions for all racist acts.
Specific sanctions include:
Once a racist act has been recognized, the match will be automatically awarded to the team concerned. The referee will have the right to interrupt the match temporarily or permanently and take appropriate measures, depending on the situation on the spot, if he/she detects a racist situation during the match.
The source said, "We will be introducing a generic regulatory initiative to ensure that players are able to positively report racist incidents and referees will respond and implement the appropriate procedures." The measure aims to provide a safe playing environment for players while sending a strong signal against racist behavior.
With the adoption of the new rules, FIFA hopes to be able to effectively curb racist behavior globally and maintain the fairness and integrity of the game.
