Europe’s football governing body UEFA has announced its plans to introduce a 10-match ban for racial abuse. The announcement was made by UEFA general secretary Gianni Infantino during the Soccerex Europea Forum at Manchester on Wednesday.
The UEFA will impose a 10-match ban on a player, if he is found guilty for racism, while clubs will also face partial closure of stadiums for a first incident and a full closure for a second offence plus financial penalties.
“If supporters at a club are found guilty of racist abuse, the first sanction will be a partial closure of the part of the stadium from which the racist abuse took place, Infantino told. “For a second offence, there will be the full closure and a minimum fine of €50,000.”
“If there is racist abuse, the referee is empowered to take the players off the pitch and a public announcement will be made to tell the fans to stop the abuse,” he continued. “The players will then return to the field, but if it continues the referee has the authority to abandon the match. If that happens, sanctions regarding the result and points deductions would be considered.”