FIFA president Sepp Blatter has called for tougher punishment for teams and associations found guilty of racism and discrimination on Tuesday (April 7) and said monetary sanctions were increasingly ineffective.
Sepp Blatter called for tougher punishment against racial discrimination
Statutes allowed for stiffer sanctions which now had to be implemented as the battle against ‘the scourge of racism and discrimination is not being won’, he told the Confederation of African Football congress.
“I call upon all the other continents, there must be punishments and not just punishments for discrimination or racism, or to punish with money or closing stadia because that is punishing football,” Blatter said.
Blatter reminded African countries of extensive financial support to the continent’s football associations from world football’s governing body as he opened the congress in a Cairo hotel on Tuesday.
Blatter, who is expected to get extensive support from the continent’s 54 countries when he stands for re-election next month, said fines alone would not work.
“You can suspend a team, you can take away points from a team, you can even relegate a team from a superior series to an inferior one. And it must be done, for as long as we don’t, because by handing out monetary sanctions, we will always find money but you can’t fight racism with money,” he said.
Blatter was met with a warm ovation from the African delegates in contrast to having to sit through stinging criticism when he attended the UEFA congress in Vienna last month.
Ventuno/Reuters