JEZ TELLS 3 LIONS: WALK OFF OVER RACE TAUNTS
Russia World Cup warning
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JEREMY Corbyn wants England stars to walk off the pitch if they are racially abused at the World Cup.
The Labour leader said he would support any player who refused to continue because of abuse in Russia.
Fifa has revealed it will have “snatch squads” in grounds to root out racist fans. Russia has a long history of supporters attaching themselves to far right groups and abusing black and Asian players.
Mr Corbyn, an Arsenal fan, fears racism could overshadow the tournament and implored Fifa to take tough action right from the start.
Ghanaian Sulley Muntari, 33, was shown a yellow card when he walked off the pitch because of racial abuse during a Serie A match in Italy last year.
But Mr Corbyn told an anti-racism event: “I would support any player walking off as a way of saying, ‘I’m not prepared to tolerate this abuse’.
“I am concerned the World Cup will be overshadowed by racism. But let’s be optimistic.
“The World Cup is the biggest sporting event outside the Olympics. Half the world’s population will be aware of it and an audience of billions watching in some form or other. What a message for Russia and the whole world if they decide at the very beginning to adopt an absolute zero tolerance of racism in any form.
“Referees must be prepared to intervene immediately, send people off, take people out of the stadium and stop the match.
“If that’s done at the start it will set the tone and be a great way to stand up to racism globally.’’
Chants
Ex-footballer Alexei Smertin, 42, who played for Chelsea, is part of a Russian Football Union unit working to combat discrimination in the game in the run-up to the tournament.
Alexei said plain-clothed “observers” will sit in the stands to seek out culprits.
“Fifa has clear criteria for what can be considered a racist chant. This applies to banners, swastika images, runes and so on.
“There is a list of discriminatory things,’’ he said.
Referees will have the power to stop games pending a tannoy announcement calling for fans to cease offensive behaviour.
If the behaviour continues players will be led off the field while another warning is read out. Should a game be stopped a third time it will be abandoned.