Premier League hesitant to issue forfeits for racial abuse

Premier League officials have no plans to drastically change their current rules regarding racial abuse during matches. The news, reported by The Guardian, comes as separate incidents occurred during games involving Udinese and Sheffield Wednesday at the weekend.

Select Udinese fans directed racial abuse towards AC Milan goalkeeper Mike Maignan throughout the match. The star shot-stopper eventually walked off of the pitch due to the abhorrent behavior from the stands. The two teams, however, later resumed play and Milan eventually won the game thanks to a late goal from Noah Okafor.

The issue at the Serie A match came on the same day as another racist incident paused an EFL Championship fixture. Wednesday supporters made monkey noises towards Coventry’s Kasey Palmer during the game. Much like the Udinese situation, officials temporarily halted the English match. Following the break, the visiting Sky Blues went on to beat Wednesday 2-1 on the day.

FIFA boss calls on much harsher penalties for abuse

After the incidents, FIFA president Gianna Infantino took to social media to demand changes to the current laws involving racism. Infantino called for teams to forfeit matches when their fans racially abuse a player from the opposing club.

“As well as the three-step process (match stopped, match re-stopped, match abandoned), we have to implement an automatic forfeit for the team whose fans have committed racism and caused the match to be abandoned, as well as worldwide stadium bans and criminal charges for racists,” Infantino posted on X.

“FIFA and football shows full solidarity to victims of racism and any form of discrimination. Once and for all: No to racism! No to any form of discrimination! The events that took place in Udine and Sheffield on Saturday are totally abhorrent and completely unacceptable.”

“The players affected by Saturday’s events have my undivided support,” continued the FIFA exec. “We need ALL the relevant stakeholders to take action, starting with education in schools so that future generations understand that this is not part of football or society.”

Racial abuse is skyrocketing in Premier League and rest of England

Nevertheless, the final decision regarding the issue comes down to each league. According to the aforementioned report, the Premier League, EFL, and Football Association (FA) are all unlikely to fulfill Infantino’s request.

The FA issued a statement in October on their updated guidelines on dealing with racism in the sport. The governing body of soccer in England, alongside the Premier League and EFL, claimed that they “remain committed… to ensure those who are found guilty of racist or discriminatory behavior face strong consequences for their actions.”

Potential penalties for fans resulting from racial abuse currently include stadium bans and possible criminal charges. Final sentences in such cases, however, vary and regularly do not produce adequate charges.

For instance, a Crystal Palace fan was recently sentenced to 60 hours of unpaid work and a relatively small fine for racially abusing Tottenham Hotspur star Son Heung-min during a match. Spurs and local police both believed the punishment was not severe enough. After an appeal, the courts agreed and subsequently gave the fan an additional three-year stadium ban.

Nevertheless, even the extended punishment is not enough to deter certain fans from continuing to racially abuse players. Kick it Out, an organization that helps combat racism in soccer, reported that it received over 1,000 racial incidents during the 2022/23 season. The prevalence of these issues rose by 65% compared to the prior year.

The abuse is also not only occurring at matches as well. Reports of online abuse increased by 279% during the same timeframe. English soccer execs may be hesitant to go for Infantino’s ideas regarding racism, but things certainly have to change.

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