FIFA toughens punishment for racist acts

FIFA is doubling its minimum ban for racist incidents to 10 games and will allow players to make victim statements and participate in the proceedings, world soccer’s governing body said Thursday.

Stricter punishments against racism and other discriminatory behaviour were key parts of FIFA’S updated disciplinary code, which takes effect Monday.

The changes follow several high-profile incidents last season in domestic and international football.

Inter Milan was ordered to play two home games behind closed doors after its supporters racially insulted Napoli defender Kalidou Koulibaly. Koulibaly, who received a red card for dissent, was banned for two matches, sparking criticism that the victim was being punished.

Montenegro was also ordered by European governing body UEFA to play a home game behind closed doors as part of sanctions handed out for the racist behaviour of its supporters during a match against England.

The updated FIFA code expands the scope of what is considered discriminatory behaviour to anything related to “race, skin colour, ethnic, national or social origin, gender, disability, sexual orientation, language, religion, political opinion, wealth, birth or any other status or any other reason.”

A match will be forfeited by the team if its supporters are found to be guilty of racist and other discriminatory behaviour.

The match can be forfeited after the referee has applied a “threestep procedure” for such incidents, which includes requesting a public announcement to call for such behaviour to cease, suspending the match until it stops and abandoning the match altogether in critical scenarios.

Earlier this week, FIFA also launched a new global program teaching member associations and confederations to safeguard children from abuse.