By Andrew Warshaw
October 28 – FIFA are to seek assurances from Russia’s 2018 World Cup organisers that they are taking adequate steps to tackle racism but insist there is no chance of the country being stripped of host status.The issue of racism was once again plunged into the spotlight last week when fans of CSKA Moscow verbally abused Manchester City midfielder Yaya Toure during a Champions Cup clash, resulting in UEFA opening disciplinary proceedings with a verdict likely on Wednesday.
“We are dealing now with actual problems,” FIFA President Sepp Blatter told a press conference in London on Sunday. “We are not dealing with the problems that may happen somewhere in the world.”
FIFA Secretary General Jerome Valcke is in Russia today and tomorrow for a scheduled 2018 board meeting on World Cup progress. Although the agenda itself does not feature racism, Valcke confirmed he will meet face to face with organising committee chief executive Alexey Sorokin on the fringes of the talks.
“Of course we can impose sanctions but in order to prevent racism there is an educational program to have in place in Russia,” Valcke said, sitting alongside Blatter at Sunday’s press conference. “They are working on a programme together with the Russian authorities. It is definitely something we will discuss not as part of the board meeting agenda, but on a one-to-one meeting between Alexey Sorokin and myself.”
FIFA vice-president Jeffrey Webb, head of its recently established anti-discrimination Task Force, met Toure after City played Chelsea in the Premier League on Sunday and was given details of the abuse the Ivory Coast midfielder suffered in Moscow.
CSKA officials vehemently deny any such abuse took place but Toure has even suggested that black players should consider boycotting the World Cup because of frequent instances of racism by Russian fans.
Blatter stopped short of condoning such action but once again called for zero tolerance. “I have never said they have to take the competition out (of the country) because you cannot take a whole competition out,” Blatter said. “It’s impossible.”
“Sporting boycotts are rarely a solution to any problem. We cannot go to a country or a society and tell them to stop, that is not FIFA’s right. But we can stop it in football and the disciplinary committees have to impose suspensions or deduct points.”
Twenty-four hours earlier, in an address to the English Football Association’s 150th anniversary gala dinner in London, Blatter took up the same theme.
“It has been decided by the FIFA congress that it is a nonsense for racism to be dealt with with fines – you can always find money from somebody to pay them,” he told more than 300 hand-picked guests at the lavish black-tie affair.
“It is (also) a nonsense to have matches played without spectators because it is against the spirit of football and against the visiting team.”
“We need to eliminate teams from a competition or deduct points. Only by such decisions is it possible to go against racism and discrimination. If we don’t do that it will go on and go on. We have to stop it – we need the courage to do it.”
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