FIFA President defends automatic defeat in cases of racism

The president of FIFA, Gianni Infantino, defended automatic defeat of teams when their fans commit racism or racial insults during matches. The statement was made by Infantino through a statement released stories of Instagramon Saturday (January 20, 2024), after a case of racism during an Italian Championship game.

In the match between Udinese and Milan, Milan's goalkeeper, Mike Maignan, was the target of racist insults from fans of the opposing team. The 28-year-old French athlete informed referee Fabio Maresca. The game was stopped for around 5 minutes and the players left the field, but returned shortly afterwards.

Infantino classified the insults as “totally abominable and completely unacceptable”. And he added: “We must implement automatic defeat for the team whose fans committed racism and caused the match to be abandoned, as well as worldwide stadium bans and criminal charges for racists”.

Read the full statement:

“The events that took place in Udine and Sheffield on Saturday are completely abhorrent and completely unacceptable. There is no place for racism or any form of discrimination – both in football and in society. The players affected by Saturday's events have my full support.

“We need all stakeholders to take action, starting with education in schools, so that future generations understand that this is not part of football or society.

“In addition to the three-step process (match interrupted, match interrupted again and match abandoned), we have to implement automatic defeat for the team whose fans committed racism and caused the match to be abandoned, as well as worldwide stadium bans and criminal charges for racists .

“FIFA and football show total solidarity with the victims of racism and any form of discrimination. Once and for all: no to racism! No to any form of discrimination!”

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