FIFA's top man Sepp Blatter Football Against Racism in Europe (FARE) has thrown its support behind FIFA President Sepp Blatter's decision to enforce stricter racism penalties, but warned they still won't be enough, the Telegraph report. The Swiss football administrator courted controversy in 2011, when he claimed racism wasn't prevalent in football and any dispute could be solved with a handshake, But he outlined a new penalisation system on his Twitter account, hinting that financial sanctions will be scrapped in favour of points deductions and imposed relegations. “Sanctions against discriminatory acts must be very severe," he tweeted. "We will discuss this at next Strategic Committee in 3 weeks. "Deduction of points/relegation. Financial sanctions: not efficient. Matches behind closed doors: not good solution.” Piara Powar, the executive director of FARE, believes its a positive step that Blatter has recognised that racism needs to be tackled with stronger punishments but worries that it won't be sufficient to quell the issue all together. “We welcome any suggestion that the rules of football will be applied more stringently and governing bodies at all levels forced to recognise their responsibilities,” he said.
“There has been enough talking without decisive action. But that is not enough, education and awareness-raising must be at the centre of action. "We cannot allow a feeling to develop where people think sanctions to deal with discrimination are about top-down political correctness.” [cat_link cat="premiership" type="grid"]