June 8 – FIFA has reiterated that referees will have the power to suspend games at the World Cup in cases of persistent discrimination by the crowd.
Russia has pledged to crack down on racism as the country faces increased scrutiny but overseas players and human rights groups are concerned about outbreaks of chanting and England defender Danny Rose has even told his family not to attend because he feared they may be racially abused.
FIFA secretary general Fatma Samoura has assured those taking part on and off the field that FIFA will watch developments carefully.
“Besides educational measures…. we have systems in place to react to and sanction discriminatory acts as well as measures to ensure a discrimination-free environment at the FIFA World Cup,” she said in a statement on Thursday.
For the first time in the tournament’s 88-year history, there will be a dedicated anti-discrimination monitoring system at each match with a team of three observers from the anti-discrimination FARE
“Those observers understand the language and are trained on the regional specificities of the respective fan cultures,” said the statement.
Under a three-step rule, referees will have the authority to first stop the game and request a public announcement asking for the discriminatory behaviour to cease. They can then suspend the match if it continues and ultimately abandon it.
FARE’s executive director Piara Power said the monitoring system had been “very effective” in the World Cup qualifiers especially in identifying homophobic behaviour.
“If issues arise, the observer system allows us to identify them early and have action taken during a match,” he said.
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