May 17 – FIFA unveiled a five ‘pillar’ initiative to combat racism in football at its Congress in Bangkok, Thailand. FIFA said the recommendations will be mandated across all 211 of its member federations.
Using former players from its ‘Legends’ programme to come up with it action plan, FIFA said it will also engage them to carry out the introduction and enforcement of the pillars’
Pillar one – FIFA will make racism a specific offence, with mandatory inclusion in the individual disciplinary code of all 211 FIFA member associations, differentiating racism from other incidents and creating a specific set of sanctions for racism, including match forfeit.
Pillar two – A formal process for players to communicate racist incidents. And for referees to signal the implementation of the three-step procedure which will be made mandatory in all 211 FIFA member associations.
Pillar three – Criminal charges. FIFA will push for recognition of racism as a criminal offence in every country in the world and for it to be prosecuted with the severity it deserves.
Pillar four – Education. FIFA recognises that no child is born a racist and will develop and promote educational initiatives together with schools and governments to provide a future free of racism.
Pillar five – FIFA’s playing legends have committed to create a panel to fight against racism with former players. The panel will be in charge of supervising and recommending the implementation of these measures worldwide.
Thanking the legends for their engagement and for using their reputations to bring home the importance for action against racism, FIFA president Gianni Infantino said: “Let’s show to the world that we are serious about ending racism now? And let’s make sure that racism never comes up again in football.”
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