Although European football has taken huge strides in recent years against racism, there are still ugly incidents that blight the game today. In an international friendly match between Spain and England in Madrid last year, Spanish fans booed and jeered the England team's black players. Afterwards, the England team said they were ready to walk off the pitch in disgust, but UEFA rules would have actually penalised them for such action. Football in Italy and Spain is particularly affected by racism. In Italy's Seria A on November 27, Messina's Ivory Coast defender Marc Zoro was reduced to tears by Inter Milan fans and threatened to walk off the field.

The MEPs' declaration* called on football federations to consider the option of imposing sporting sanctions on national football associations and clubs whose supporters or players commit serious racist offences. UEFA and other competition organisers are being called upon to ensure that referees have the option of stopping or abandoning matches because of serious racist abuse, and to impose sanctions on those who commit racist offences. The declaration includes the option of removing persistent offenders from their competitions. The declaration will achieve the status of a motion if a majority of the 732 MEPs give their backing.

“It is a sad reflection on our world that racism continues to blight the beautiful game”, the declaration says. “Football is not the cause of racism, but it is in our stadiums and on our pitches that some of the most visible and violent abuse takes place.”

“We call on all organisers of football leagues to allow referees to suspend or cancel matches when incidents of racist abuse occur”, said Dutch MEP Emine Bozkurt. “Tough sanctions should be the ultimate remedy. If fans or players of certain clubs repeatedly misbehave, then it should be possible to exclude these clubs from competitions.”

British Labour MEP Claude Moraes, who is Chair of the European Parliament’s Anti-Racism Intergroup, said enforcement of sanctions had to be clear, and that abandoning matches because of racist abuse would send clubs a message.

The MEPs heard from former Chelsea and Bari footballer Paul Elliot of his first-hand experiences of racial abuse, including monkey chanting and banana throwing. “At that time no-one treated the issue seriously, it was swept under the carpet”, he said, backing the declaration. “Sending off players or abandoning matches is the right attitude. It’s about sustainability of action - It sends out a message of intent to clubs.”

During a meeting with MEPs, UEFA Vice-President Per Ravn Omdal supported action to toughen action against racism. “We are prepared to implement the necessary sanctions, from fines and closure of stadium, and even to not allow teams to participate at all”, Mr Omdal said. He added that referees had to be much more aware of taunts and not hesitate to interrupt or abandon matches. “The referee can do a lot in a specific game. Either to stop it, to listen, to report and eventually to abandon the game if that kind of abuse is taking place.”

* To see the draft declaration, click on the following link: http://eisnet.eis.be/own/graph/2005/en11/eure;3011;325.pdf