World football governing body, FIFA, has announced new measures to make racist abuse a disciplinary offense for all its national federations.
This tougher approach follows months of consultation with affected players, including Brazilian forward Vinicius Junior.
Newly appointed Secretary General Mattias Grafstrom stated, “We will make racism a specific offense with mandatory inclusion in the individual Disciplinary Codes of all 211 FIFA member associations, differentiating it from other incidents.”
The proposals will be presented to FIFA member federations on Friday at their annual meeting in Bangkok, Thailand.
The measures include mandatory sanctions, possible match forfeits, on-field actions, and potential criminal charges.
A notable part of the proposal is a global standard gesture where a player raises their hands and crosses their wrists to signal a racist incident to referees.
This decision would trigger a three-step procedure: pausing the game and broadcasting warnings in the stadium, taking teams off the field, and potentially abandoning the game.
FIFA also plans to create a panel of players to monitor and advise on the implementation of these actions worldwide.
Football has reportedly struggled with racism for more than a decade, both on the field and in stadiums.
