LIONS MUST LEAD WAY TO PROTECT BLACK STARS

FINALLY, the line in the sand football has been crying out for.

The cards on the table to finally make clear enough is enough.

You almost want the worst to come to the worst so that Gareth Southgate’s England stars can write their names into history by placing principle above playing on if they are racially abused again. Walking off would send out a message that will reverberate far beyond Prague or serial offenders Bulgaria.

It would empower young men in the Premier League, set a consistent new benchmark for action in Serie A, Spain and the other big competitions.

Whether he is leading from the front of harnessing the fire of his militant young stars, Southgate deserves credit for allowing them to do what needs to be done unshackled by the rules which simply do not protect black footballers.

England’s stars are fed up with having to rise above the kind of racist abuse they’ve come to expect on away trips for club or country.

Football’s right-thinking contingent is sick of having to see and hear it.

We’ve had a bellyful of FIFA and UEFA – with so little black representation at decision-making level – remaining so incapable of applying the kind of punishments that act as a deterrent. The time for soundbites and calls to leave it to the authorities has long been over.

Fans intent on racially abusing players don’t care enough about the consequences. What do they have to fear when the fat cats at the top of the game are so weak? It is an embarrassment.

So walk off and hang the consequences. Good luck to UEFA trying to hold on to their sponsors if they try to punish the England players, too.

What commercial entity would want to be aligned to a body trying to hammer players protesting at being abused? Out of the chaos can come a new order that ensures black stars no longer have to put up with the kind of thing they wouldn’t in any other industry.

The protocols don’t work. Mario Balotelli and Sulley Muntari have tried to follow it in the past and have ended up being punished themselves.

England U17 chief Steve Cooper tried to follow it two years ago when Rhian Brewster claimed Morgan Gibbswhite (top) had been racially abused by a Spain player during the U17 World Cup final. FIFA ruled there was no case.

Fines don’t work. Serie A issued a punishment of just under £9,000 to Atalanta yesterday after a section of their fans racially abused Fiorentina’s Dalbert.

Last year, Russia had to pay just £22,000 for monkey chants directed at France’s Paul Pogba.

What will work is action. Football needs a sea change. Everyone has had enough.