International Football
FIFA wants referees to signal racist incidents during games with a “global standard gesture” of arms crossed at the wrists in an “X” shape.
The idea, communicated by FIFA via a letter sent to all 211 member associations, will be put to a vote at the 74th FIFA Congress in Bangkok on Friday and is part of FIFA president Gianni Infantino’s grand plans for eradicating racism from football.
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Other measures in the five-pillar plan include asking all member associations to make racist abuse a specific offence in their rulebooks, asking every government to make racism a criminal offence and setting up a new Players’ Anti-Racism Panel to monitor and advise on the plan’s implementation.
Infantino has made this fight one of his main priorities for 2024, having told European football associations to come to Bangkok with ideas to tackle racism at their congress in Paris in February.
In the letter sent to the member associations on the eve of the congress, FIFA’s new secretary general Mattias Grafstrom said: “The time has come for football to unite unequivocally and commit as a global community to address the issue of racism in the game.”
Grafstrom then explained that FIFA has been consulting current and former players, who are “often the central victims of this heinous act”, for several months and their views have resulted in the new proposal.
Most of the ideas are already in use. For example, FIFA introduced a three-step approach for how match officials should deal with racist chanting in 2018, with match officials told they should pause, suspend and, if the chanting continues, abandon games.
But the call to make racism a specific disciplinary offence around the football world and the X gesture are new.
Tony Burnet, chief executive of anti-discrimination charity Kick It Out, questioned FIFA’s decision to keep the three-step protocol when a racist incident takes place on the pitch and said the proposals “lack detail”.
Burnet said: “FIFA’s intentions to take a stand against racism appear to be genuine, but lack detail and in some cases fail to address ongoing concerns.
“Kick It Out is surprised that after consulting players, the three-step protocol is set to continue. It has failed to protect players for years, and rather than introducing new hand gestures, FIFA should focus on empowering players and their management to leave the pitch when they feel it’s appropriate. Referees also need better education.
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“While players offer a genuine insight into the effects of racism, asking them to come up with solutions to tackle this issue is unfair. Many have called for more to be done, but they should not bear the responsibility for the problem. That is on those who run the game, who have a duty to protect players and need to ensure they are transparent about their actions.”
While nobody doubts Infantino’s sincerity on this issue, there will be some in the game who will point out that he disbanded the FIFA Anti-Racism Task Force in 2016 because it had “completely fulfilled its temporary mission”. This decision and its timing was criticised given it was taken ahead of the 2018 World Cup in Russia, amid concerns the tournament could be marred by acts of racism in the stands.
The theory at the time was that Infantino was bowing to pressure from Russia ahead of its hosting of the 2018 World Cup, as they were worried the tournament could be marred by acts of racism in the stands.
And others will note that very few referees have used the three-step approach for dealing with racist behaviour during games in numerous countries over the last six years.
However, these five pillars were unanimously backed by the FIFA’s 37-strong council on Wednesday, so it would also be fair to say they have global support.
GO DEEPER
Vinicius Junior and racism in Spanish football – has anything changed?
(Buda Mendes/Getty Images)
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Based in North West England, Matt Slater is a senior football news reporter for The Athletic UK. Before that, he spent 16 years with the BBC and then three years as chief sports reporter for the UK/Ireland’s main news agency, PA. Follow Matt on Twitter @mjshrimper
