Football: loss of points due to racism is a distant reality – 01/23/2024 – Sport

In recent days, sport has seen new cases of racism in football stadiums in different countries, showing that the measures adopted so far to curb the practice have not proven effective.

In Italy, Milan’s French goalkeeper Mike Maignan was the target of racist insults from Udinese fans on Saturday (20), which led to the match being stopped for a few minutes. As punishment, the Udine team will have to play their next game without an audience present.

On the same day, in England, Jamaican midfielder Kasey Palmer, from Coventry City, accused Sheffield Wednesday fans of making gestures imitating monkeys.

The episodes led the president of FIFA (International Football Federation), Gianni Infantino, to defend that teams whose fans promote racist demonstrations suffer automatic defeat, in order to curb the practice that he described as “abominable”.

In Brazil, the CBF (Brazilian Football Confederation) began to foresee, from February 2023, a series of punishments that can be applied in the event of “infringement of a discriminatory nature” committed by managers, clubs, athletes, coaches, fans and arbitration.

Warning, fine of up to R$500,000, prohibition of registration or transfer of athletes and, the most emblematic, the loss of points — in line with what defended by Infantino — are among the penalties foreseen.

“The fight against racism is in a hurry. Measures have been discussed for centuries and never put into practice”, declared the president of the CBF, Ednaldo Rodrigues, at the time. Former president of the FBF (Bahiana Football Federation), Rodrigues is the first black person to command the CBF in more than a hundred years.

Since possible punishments were added to the regulations, however, no team has had points deducted. Before the initiative, in 2021, Brusque, which was competing in Série B of the Brazilian Championship at the time, had three points withdrawn after fans made racist insults against Londrina midfielder Celsinho. Subsequently, however, the points were returned by decision of the STJD (Superior Court of Sports Justice).

There is no precedent for such punishments in the main club tournaments in Europe and South America. England, Spain, Germany, Italy and Argentina give preference to fines. In addition to financial punishment, suspension, stadium closures and loss of commands are the standard measures.

In South America, Conmebol (South American Football Confederation) recently imposed a fine of US$100,000 (R$497,000) on River Plate, and ordered the Argentine club to ban fans from entering one of the sectors of the stadium. Monumental de Núñez stadium, due to racist acts in a game against Fluminense, in the round of 16 of the Copa Libertadores.

In competitions in Europe, the protocol determines, during matches, announcements over the stadium’s sound system, stoppage of the game and, finally, closure.

Playing for Real Madrid since 2018, Brazilian striker Vinicius Junior has been forced to live with frequent racist insults.

He was sent off during a clash with Valencia, at the Mestalla stadium, in May 2023, after a disturbance that began after racist insults made by fans of the opposing team.

In a message on social media after the game, the striker stated that racism “is normal” in the Spanish Championship and signaled that he could leave Spain as a result of these episodes.

“It wasn’t the first time, nor the second, nor the third. Racism is normal in LaLiga. The competition thinks it’s normal, the federation, too, and the opponents encourage it,” he wrote at the time.

Pressured by the recurrence of cases of racism in stadiums, LaLiga, responsible for organizing Espanyol, announced last August, at the start of the 2023/24 season, measures to combat discrimination and tools to facilitate complaints.

The main action, however, was the mere creation of a new platform, called LaLiga vs Racismo. On the website laligavsracismo.com, the entity publishes educational and preventive measures against violent or discriminatory behavior.

The platform also offers direct access to LaLiga’s reporting channel so that the public can provide information related to any acts of hate occurring inside or outside the stadiums.

In England, the FA (Football Association, the English football federation) provides for sanctions that include a ban on going to stadiums, legal proceedings and prison sentences for those found guilty of discriminatory behavior, both in the stadium and in virtual media, with possible Point deductions for amateur clubs only.

Although actions designed to curb racism have the potential to discourage these acts, the effect will only materialize if they are, in fact, put into practice, points out Rachel Rua, director of the iO Diversidade consultancy. For her, losing points is a good path.

Rachel recalled that, last week, the Spanish Court rejected a complaint filed by the Spanish football league about racist insults directed at Vinicius Junior. According to the judge, it was not possible to determine the identity of the perpetrators.

“Educational actions, combined with punishments, must, indeed, hold the clubs or teams involved responsible, including having an impact on their score in the championships. These educational actions and punishments have the possibility of transforming these spaces, football stadiums, into more respectful and welcoming to everyone,” says Rachel.

In Italy, authorities last year announced “zero tolerance” towards racist fans. With the help of videos, microphones and facial identification tools, offenders are identified and banned from stadiums — around 170 Juventus fans were banned after insulting Belgian player Romelu Lukaku, who played for Inter Milan.