Time to act tough

City’s Sterling wants harsher punishment to tackle racism

LONDON: Clubs should be slapped with automatic nine-point deductions and ordered to play three games behind closed doors if their supporters indulge in racist behaviour, Manchester City and England forward Raheem Sterling (pic) has said.

Football authorities must adopt radical changes to tackle the menace, Sterling said, after signing a manifesto that calls for consistent and suitable punishment for racist and discriminatory behaviour.

“I’d call for an automatic ninepoint deduction for racist abuse,” he wrote in a column for the Times newspaper.

“It sounds harsh but which fan will risk racist behaviour if it might relegate their team or ruin their title bid?

“The club should have to play three games behind closed doors. That way, they lose revenue as a direct consequence of racist behaviour.”

Sterling joined a number of professionals and clubs in endorsing the manifesto which also seeks more black and minority ethnic people in senior positions in soccer and no sanctions for players walking off the pitch if they encounter racism.

Framed with the guidance of anti-discriminatory bodies Kick It Out and FARE and the Black Collective of Media in Sport, key points of the manifesto also include the need for media and social media to take more responsibility in tackling abuse.

“Up and down the game, across the world, black and Asian players, fans and coaches are subjected to racism. Every day, from park football to the Champions League,” Sterling said.

“In my opinion the people who run the game are doing nowhere near enough to solve the problem. And that’s not good enough.”

Earlier this season, Sterling had accused sections of the British media of fuelling racism with a negative portrayal of young black players.

The 24-year-old encountered racist abuse during England’s Euro 2020 qualifier in Montenegro in March, while there have been many other cases in European soccer in recent months.

Sterling, who is in the running for the Professional Footballers’ Association Players’ Player of the Year award, said that he did not want young black players to endure what he had.

“I don’t know how long it’ll take for things to change but we have to start now. I don’t want the next generation of black players to have to put up with this evil,” he said.

Meanwhile, Sterling is to pay for the funeral of former Crystal Palace youth player Damary Dawkins who he says was an “example to us all”.

Dawkins died aged 13 of leukaemia in March – Sterling had supported a campaign to find a suitable stem cell donor for him.

According to an appeal page, Dawkins did receive a stem cell match a few days before Christmas but he relapsed in February.

His family had set up a GoFundMe page to raise £15,000 (RM81,000) to give Dawkins the “best send off and celebration of life” – but Sterling has assumed all the costs himself.

“Damary was a special young man who touched a lot of lives, including my own. Positive until the end, he was an example to us all,” said Sterling, who will attend the funeral on Friday.

Sterling paid tribute to Damary by lifting his England shirt to reveal a picture of the two of them together following his second goal in the 5-0 win over the Czech Republic in their Euro 2020 qualifier in March.

Their close relationship echoes that of former England international Jermain Defoe and Sunderland fan Bradley Lowery, who died of a rare form of cancer aged just six in 2017.

Defoe, who was playing for Sunderland at the time, forged a close bond with the youngster – he has his name tattooed on his right arm – and carried the boy he described as his “best friend” onto the pitch at Wembley for an England international with Lithuania. — Reuters/AFP