FIFA view of racism is total Bull
FIFA’S deputy secretary-general Zvonimir Boban has attempted to justify his body’s laughable fines for racism by saying it’s unfair to punish countries due to a minority of offenders.
“How far do you punish the game for a few idiots? To punish a whole country when less than one per cent of the people are guilty?,” he asked.
Just to put FIFA’s cowardice in perspective. They recently hit the FA with a £16,000 fine after a young England player was spotted having a swig of Red Bull during last year’s Under-20 World Cup in Korea.
So enraged were they that the lad didn’t drink Powerade, with whom they have a commercial tie-up, the fine was only £6,000 less than Russia received after their fans racially abused black French players in a St Petersburg friendly in March.
Which at least proved that FIFA do actually have a zero tolerance policy. But only towards anyone upsetting their commercial partners.
Boban says he’s confident, despite some black players telling family members not to follow them to Russia, that the World Cup will be free of racism.
It’s going to be a long month out there. Longer for some than others.