By Andrew Warshaw
June 7 – UEFA President Michel Platini says referees will have no hesitation in halting matches at the 2012 European Championship if any of the players report being racially abused from the stands.
Platini says UEFA has empowered referees to “temporarily stop the game and finally cancel the game if this racism keeps rearing its head”.
Concern about abuse from fans has been heightened in recent weeks, not least by a BBC television programme showing appalling scenes of discrimination at club matches in both Poland and Ukraine.
Platini, in his opening news conference in Warsaw before the start of the tournament, said referees know what to do if they hear any abuse from the stands but warned players would be cautioned if they act unilaterally.
Manchester City’s Italian forward Mario Balotelli said last week that he would walk off if targeted, but Platini said: “We will certainly support the referee if he decided to stop the game.
“But it’s not a player, Mr Balotelli, who’s in charge of refereeing.
“It’s the referee who takes these decisions.
“So, the referee has been given advice and he can stop the game if there are problems.”
Pierluigi Collina (pictured above), the former World Cup final referee who is now UEFA’s chief refereeing officer, told reporters at the same briefing that UEFA officials had visited all 16 finalists and had explained the procedure to stop the game.
“The referees have a protocol so they know what they have to do,” Collina said.
“The players know the protocol.”
Piara Powar, executive director of Football Against Racism in Europe (FARE), said he was more worried about racism at this tournament than at any other.
UEFA invited FARE to help select a group of 31 experts who will monitor every team’s fans for any banners, chants and behaviour inside stadiums which breach UEFA’s zero-tolerance policy.
“It is good to know that Mr Platini understands what is going on,” Powar said.
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