President of FIFA Sepp Blatter speaks to the media
FIFA President Sepp Blatter said he wants clubs with racist fans to be docked points or be relegated, three days after a black player in Peru walked off the field amid persistent abuse.
Blatter told delegates of South American soccer confederation Conmebol in Asuncion, Paraguay, yesterday that lighter sanctions such as fines or the partial closure of stadiums aren’t working as a deterrent.
“The rules we have, we don’t apply them in all the parts of the world,” Blatter said. “The time has come to dock points or relegate teams.”
Blatter made similar comments at a dinner hosted by the English Football Association in 2013.
Luis Tejada, a striker for Peruvian club Juan Aurich, kicked the ball into the stands and left the field after 70 minutes of a match at Cienciano. He said on his website he’d been targeted with abuse since the warm-up.
“We’re not making any progress and it’s the same as ever,” Tejada, who is from Panama, said. “For how long?”
In another incident last month, some fans of English Premier League team Chelsea prevented a black man from entering a train on the Paris metro.
The London club said the fans’ behavior before a Champions League match at Paris Saint Germain was “abhorrent.” Alex Duff and Tariq Panja, Bloomberg
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