By Andrew Warshaw
April 9 – FIFA have been quick to dispel any suggestion that Sepp Blatter has eased his hardline stance against racism.
Following Kevin-Prince Boateng’s famous walkoff in January, Blatter went on record as suggesting that clubs should be docked points or relegated if their fans were found guilty of racist abuse and violence.
Heavy sanctions are expected to be put to the vote at next month’s FIFA Congress in Mauritius but last week, an agency report suggested Blatter had backtracked on his views by quoting him as follows: “Can we bring an end to violence or racism by docking points or relegating a team? Or would such measures lead people to come to games to get the match abandoned.
“We should do all we can but there’s a danger that if we have matches replayed or if we punish clubs on the sporting front, it will open the door to hooligan groups who will come to deliberately cause trouble.”
FIFA insisted Blatter was merely questioning the feasibility of implementing such tough sanctions.
“FIFA President Blatter today reiterated … the need for punishment that hits hard against any form of racism,” said a statement.
“As mentioned previously the FIFA President underlined that fines achieve little, but points deductions and exclusion from competitions would be effective measures. He also stressed that prevention must go hand-in-hand with punishment.
“He acknowledged that the implementation of these sanctions might pose some challenges, such as a potential risk that the system could be abused by some spectators for the only purpose of getting a very unfair advantage for their team.
“Such issues will be carefully examined and will in no way alter the FIFA President’s very strong commitment towards the eradication of the racism scourge from football and his zero tolerance towards any form of racism.
“At no stage did the FIFA President say any words that could be interpreted as him backing away from his firm position to sanction actions of any form of racism.”