05 January 2025 GMT: 08:29

UEFA unveils 10 game ban plan for racism on pitch, and closed stadiums for fan abuse

gianni infantino2

By Andrew Warshaw, chief correspondent, in Manchester
April 10 – In arguably the biggest crackdown to date to tackle racism in football, UEFA will ban players and officials for a minimum 10 games if they are found guilty of abuse – and are also hitting fans hard by ordering teams to play behind closed doors. 

Revealing the strict new measures at Soccerex, UEFA general secretary Gianni Infantino said the time had come to get tough.

UUFA have long preached zero tolerance but have never genuinely applied it, much to the scepticism of fans. But if authorised by the UEFA executive committee in May, the new 10-match ban will come into effect next season across all UEFA competitions at both club and international level.

And if there is proven racism in the stands rather than on the pitch, the first sanction will no longer just be a fine but a partial stadium closure in the area where the offense took place, followed by “full closure” of grounds and a minimum fine of €50,000 for subsequent offences.

“We have to have sanctions and they must have a deterrent effect,” Infantino told delegates.  “Racism is still a scourge on the game.”

The debate on racism intensified after AC Milan midfielder Kevin-Prince Boateng led his team off the field during a friendly in Italy in January while in two high-profile cases of racist abuse in England, former England captain John Terry was banned for four matches and Liverpool’s Uruguayan striker Luis Suarez for eight games.

Infantino told reporters following his address that although UEFA had never previously implemented its already existing five-match ban rule, doubling it to 10 was now a necessity – and that his organisation would have no hesitation in applying such punishments against guilty players and officials.

Crucially, he added, a resolution would be put to the UEFA Congress in London next month asking all 53 member federations to apply the same measures in their domestic leagues.

This season Lazio have been forced to play two European games behind closed doors because of racist behaviour by their fans and Infantino said this was an example of just how strict UEFA was prepared to be.

Points deductions were still on the table, said Infantino, if referees decide to abandon matches in cases of racist abuse, guidelines that have been in place since 2009 but never applied.

“Nobody likes to take these kind of sanctions but the fight against racism is very serious,” said Infantino. “We have to make sure there is concrete action and not just words. I hope we will never have to apply this but we felt it’s time to send out a strong message. If you fine a club for the racist behaviour of fans, you don’t really punish those directly responsible.”

Infantino said he hoped member nations would follow suit. “It’s up to us in the coming weeks to make the national associations aware of the seriousness of the issue.”

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