11 Apr 2013

UEFA unveils tough new racism penalties

6:57 am on 11 April 2013

European football players found guilty of racist offences face a minimum ban of 10 matches, a sanction Europe's governing body UEFA hopes will be adopted by all their 53 members.

Clubs will also face partial closure of stadiums for a first incident of racist abuse by fans and a full closure for a second offence plus far tougher financial penalties.

The new sanctions will initially affect all matches in European international matches, with UEFA hoping that its members will adopt the same punishments in domestic competitions.

UEFA general secretary Gianni Infantino says stadiums will be partialy closed in the areas where the racist abuse took place.

He says for a second offence, there will be the full closure and a minimum fine of NZ$76,000.

The Swiss-Italian also says referees would be encouraged to abandon matches if there was racist abuse from fans towards players at games.

He says the new rules will be ratified at the next UEFA executive committee meeting on May 22-23 and are planned to come into effect at the start of next season.

UEFA announced on Wednesday that Dynamo Kiev must play their next European competition home game behind closed doors due to the racist behaviour of their fans at a Champions League match in November.

The Ukraine club has appealed against the sanction, which relates to the racist conduct of their fans at a Group A match with Paris Saint Germain on Nov. 21.