MEP urges tv stations to help combat football racism

”The media is a powerful player in tackling this issue. We understand that some media professionals would be willing to experiment with such action and we would encourage the media to use the considerable power they have to decide what may be appropriate for the particular country concerned,” says Claude Moraes in a press statement.

The press conference was called to apply pressure on national football federations to take action on football racism before the World Cup.

A record-breaking number of 432 out of 732 MEP’s has passed a resolution against racism in football – the highest number for a written declaration since 1979.

The declaration calls on UEFA to give referees the power to call off matches if a substantial racist incident occurs. MEP’s would also like clubs where racism is a recurring phenomenon to risk being kicked out of national and international tournaments and receive considerably higher fines than today.

“Unfortunately the number of racist incidents in football has grown in recent years. In the Spanish league, top player Samuel Eto’o from FC Barcelona has suffered particular abuse from the audience who made monkey sounds and threw bananas at him. The Spanish Football Federation fined Real Zaragoza a measly 9.000 Euro and it shows that the problem is not taken seriously enough,” says Ole Christensen, Danish member of the European Parliament.