“Unfortunately, our extremely popular sport – which involves nearly a billion people throughout the world – is affected by several scourges: violence, cheating, doping, match fixing and discrimination,” explained the FIFA President in his opening statement. “At FIFA, we try to tackle all of them, but the question of discrimination angers me in particular. It’s abhorrent and we have to combat this evil, but it’s difficult to find the adequate response.”
For Boateng, who was in Geneva on Thursday for the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination – an event organised as part of the 22nd regular session of the United Nations Human Rights Council – the issue has been especially pressing of late. On 3 January this year, he decided to walk off the pitch with his AC Milan team-mates after 26 minutes of a preparation game, incensed by racial chants emanating from the stands.
More power for referees
“When I left the pitch against Pro Patria, I know it wasn’t the right decision, but at that moment I was very angry and very emotional,” the midfielder explained to FIFA’s President. “I spoke to the referee about it very early on, but after 26 minutes I just lost it and walked off the pitch. It shouldn’t be the decision of the player, though. I think that referees should perhaps have more power in this area and they should take their courage in their own hands. But it’s not easy and I realise that.”
The two men then discussed the appropriate sanctions in cases like this. It is a thorny issue, as some might argue it is unfair to punish a team for the actions of their supporters. “I’m a player and so I know that a points deduction might not go down well,” said Boateng. “But we need to be very strict in this domain and, if there are rules, we have to apply them. We absolutely need to have a real threat of sanctions.”
For his part, the FIFA President is in favour of pursuing both preventive measures and sanctions. “We need to follow two directions. First of all, we have to educate very young people and, for that, FIFA already has a fantastic network in our member countries, thanks to technical courses, grassroots programmes and so on. We have to repeat the message tirelessly, and we also need any players who are victims of such acts to report them immediately.
“Secondly, we need to punish. I don’t think games behind closed doors or financial sanctions are effective. In my opinion, we need to deduct points or even eliminate a team from a competition. It’s tough, and not everybody will agree, but it’s the only way to seriously intimidate and stop the troublemakers.”
Same wavelength
With that in mind, President Blatter explained that FIFA has been working on proposals for anti-discrimination measures which will then have to be “implemented and applied by member associations everywhere, and at every level. We’re working towards presenting something to the FIFA Congress in May.”
The two men were clearly on the same wavelength, and it was only natural for President Blatter to then invite the Milan player to join FIFA’s new Anti-Discrimination Taskforce. “The President of the new Anti-Discrimination Taskforce, Jeffrey Webb, is a strong and dynamic man who will take action,” commented the FIFA President. “This taskforce needs strong personalities and people who stand out from the crowd, like yourself, to give it credibility.” Boateng happily accepted the invitation, adding that “everyone needs to be stricter regarding this issue and this taskforce needs to make sure of that”.
Meanwhile, the newly created FIFA Task Force Against Racism and Discrimination will hold its first meeting on Monday, 6 May, at the Home of FIFA in Zurich. The creation of the task force was announced by FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter in early March, following a meeting of the FIFA Strategic Committee, as part of a series of measures to tackle the pressing issue of racism and discrimination in football.
Chaired by FIFA Vice-President and CONCACAF President Jeffrey Webb, the task force will include representatives from the different stakeholders of the football community as well as a broad panel of experts in the fight against racism and discrimination.
Aiming for a “zero tolerance” policy towards any acts of racism and discrimination, the group has been tasked with identifying tougher disciplinary sanctions on the one hand, and initiatives in the area of education and prevention on the other, in order to eradicate this scourge from the beautiful game. An update on the work of the task force will be presented at the FIFA Congress in Mauritius on 30-31 May.
“We have to work on two fronts,” said the FIFA President. “First on education, and for that FIFA has a fantastic network through its 209 member associations. But besides that, we also need to have stronger sanctions. We have seen that fines achieve little, but point deductions and exclusion from competitions could be more effective measures. We will now have a task force with experts in this area who I am sure will help us achieve our objective of kicking discrimination and racism out of football”.
