Football racism could cost clubs points or relegation

Racist abuse during matches would cost football clubs championship points under proposals drawn up by a Football Association working party.

It will recommend that football tribunals be set up to examine allegations of racist and religious abuse and other “off the pitch issues” at matches at all levels of the game.

Parents and spectators at junior league clubs across Britain are among those who face being questioned by local FA tribunals and called to account for any racist, homophobic, anti-Semitic or Islamophobic abuse directed at other parents, players, spectators or referees.

The recommendations will be presented this year in a report by the working party on tackling Islamophobia and anti-Semitism in football. The group is chaired by John Mann, the Labour MP and Leeds supporter.

The aim is to eradicate the kind of abuse that falls below the threshold of criminal prosecution but could merit civil disciplinary measures.

Under Article 58 of its disciplinary code, Fifa, football’s international governing body, already allows national football associations to deduct points for racist abuse. Hungary and France have done so, but the penalty has not been used in Britain in spite of serious incidents of abuse. After one incident last year involving Tottenham fans abusing the Portsmouth player Sol Campbell, a police investigation led to 11 arrests. Campbell, who has often suffered abuse from fans, added his voice to those calling for the FA to introduce points penalties.

Mr Mann told The Times: “We have seen the problem with the English football team getting racist abuse in places such as Spain and Croatia. Points sanctions are one of the options. It could cost clubs a place in the European Championshipm, or relegation.”

He said that the depth of religious and racist discrimination in football was one of the reasons that so few Muslims become involved in the sport or attended matches, even though a majority of Muslims in Britain list football as their favourite sport.

He said that he became aware of the depth of religious and racist abuse when he went to Budapest to hunt for a copy of a rare football programme. “I did a bit of research and found that there is a whole sub-culture of what others call neo-[Nazism] and I call Nazism in Eastern European football going back to the 1920s,” he said.

During a match in Livorno, Italy, in 2006, more than 60 visiting Croatian fans stood in positions to form a “human swastika” and made Nazi salutes. In 2007 about 30 West Ham fans were captured on a phone video that was subsequently posted on a public site making anti-Semitic chants against Tottenham supporters.

Some clubs, such as Millwall, Ipswich Town, Nottingham Forest and Southampton, have introduced confidential text messaging for fans to report racist or other abuse on match days. Hull City expels fans from the grounds for being abusive.

Mr Mann said that the problem was just as bad in junior and amateur clubs. “There is some extraordinarily outdated racism at the lower, grassroots levels of football which, if it was in the work place, no employer would tolerate. The issue is abuse from the touchline, especially from parents and spectators. It is not surprising there are virtually no home-grown Jewish or Muslim football players in Britain.”

The working party, whose members include representatives from the Metropolitan Police, the London Jewish Forum, the Muslim Council of Britain and football clubs, visited 30 matches, often incognito, last season. continues here

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