FIFA has announced that the Russian Football Union has been sanctioned with a fine of CHF 30,000 for discriminatory chants by fans during the international friendly match between Russia and France played in Saint Petersburg on 27 March 2018.
According to a statement on the official website of FIFA, the Disciplinary Committee chaired by Anin Yeboah, analysed all the specific circumstances of the case and the gravity of the incident which was a breach of article 58 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code.
“FIFA has a zero-tolerance approach to discrimination (see FIFA Statutes, article 4) and has been implementing a series of measures to fight discrimination and promote diversity, including an anti-discrimination monitoring system, which has been active since 2015, to observe and report on all 871 matches of the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers and all matches of the FIFA Confederations Cup 2017 and the 2018 FIFA World Cup,” the statement reads.
“At its tournaments, including the 2018 FIFA World Cup, FIFA has also introduced a three-step procedure in case of discriminatory incidents, which allows referees to actively intervene to make the discriminatory behaviour stop.
“Furthermore, FIFA has published a Good Practice Guide on Diversity and Anti-Discrimination to support all of its member associations. Speaking in general terms, FIFA calls on all fans to come to the stadiums in a spirit of unity, peace and friendship.”
