Fifa president Gianni Infantino has called for the implementation of an automatic forfeit of games for teams whose fans commit racist abuse. The head of football’s world governing body said there was no place for discrimination of any kind in the sport or wider society. This follows incidents which he described as "totally abhorrent" at Udinese and Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday. AC Milan's win at Udinese was briefly suspended after alleged racist abuse from home fans towards Milan goalkeeper Mike Maignan, wherein fans shouted monkey chants. “The events that took place in Udine and Sheffield on Saturday are totally abhorrent and completely unacceptable,” Infantino said in a statement. “The players affected by Saturday’s events have my undivided support.”
“We need all the relevant stakeholders to take action, starting with education in schools so that future generations understand that this is not part of football or society,” Infantino said.
“As well as the three-step process (match stopped, match re-stopped, match abandoned), we have to implement an automatic forfeit for the team whose fans have committed racism and caused the match to be abandoned as well as worldwide stadium bans and criminal charges for racists.
“FIFA and football shows full solidarity to victims of racism and any form of discrimination. Once and for all: No to racism! No to any form of discrimination!”
France captain Kylian Mbappe also offered his backing to his international teammate.
“You are very far from being alone Mike Maignan, we are all with you,” wrote the Paris Saint-Germain star.
“Still the same problems and still NO solution. Enough is enough!!!!! NO TO RACISM” he posted on X.
