Published 19:27 IST, October 18th 2019
FIFA President Infantino backs 'kicking out' racist fans from stadiums
"We have to educate our youth, our children and those who are a bit older as well," said the FIFA President Gianni Infantino in a press conference at Dhaka.
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In a press conference in Dhaka on Friday, FIFA President Gianni Infantino raised the issue of growing racism in the world of football. He was vocal about the unfortunate events happening and stated that 'racists must be kicked out of stadiums'. One of the recent events related to racism occurred during the Euro 2020 Qualifier between England vs Bulgaria recently, which was halted twice in the first half due to the racist comments being passed by Bulgarian supporters. Infantino insisted that the world body would punish the racists. He also said that if the racists abuse the footballers, then the game should be stopped.
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'The accusers should be punished': Gianni Infantino
Infantino further said that FIFA will not let the racists win and they will make sure to punish the offenders. He also stated the fact that because of the latest technologies in modern stadiums, it became easy to identify the people who are guilty of racism and a strong message must be sent to them. Infantino is all for banning racist fans from entering football stadiums and charging them with criminal proceedings.
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The FIFA President urged all countries to take strict action against racism and reaffirmed that 'FIFA will extend it worldwide because racists have no place in football in any country and no place in any place in any football stadium or any arena in any part of the world'. According to British media reports, six Bulgarian fans have been arrested as of now. An 18-year-old boy, who was seen displaying Nazi salutes in the stadium, has been fined and banned from any sports event for two years.
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16:36 IST, October 18th 2019