Jose Miguel Fernandez/AP
The Fédération internationale de football association — commonly known as FIFA — has created an anti-racism committee. Leading that committee will be Brazilian forward Vinicius Jr., who’s been the target of nearly a dozen racist attacks in the last few years as a member of Real Madrid.
The committee will consist entirely of players, FIFA President Gianni Infantino said in a Reuters report Thursday. They will use their platform to “suggest stricter punishments for discriminatory behavior.”
“There will be no more football with racism in it,” Infantino said. “The games should be stopped immediately when it happens. Enough is enough.”
Racism in the sport has always been an issue, but it’s recently come to a head after repeated instances of racial abuse toward Vini Jr.
During Real Mardid’s La Liga match against Valencia in May, fans yelled obscenities at the 22-year-old, including chants of “monkey, monkey.” In another instance, fans hung an effigy of Vini Jr. from a bridge.
Seven people were arrested as a result of these incidents.
Infantino said he reached out to Vini Jr. directly.
“I asked Vinicius to lead this group of players that will present stricter punishments against racism that will later be implemented by all football authorities around the world,” he said. “We need to hear the players and what they need to work in a safer environment. We are very serious about it.
“We will implement very blunt and strong punishments to end once and for all with the problem of racism in football. We can’t tolerate racism anymore. As president of FIFA, I feel I needed to talk personally with Vinicius about it.”
Compounding the issue surrounding Vini Jr. was the fact that La Liga is essentially powerless in dealing with racist abuse. Under Spanish law, the league can only report abuse to authorities but may not issue punishments on its own.
With this new committee, FIFA aims to do the opposite and will “pursue legal action against abusers in countries where racism happens in football matches.”
“Unfortunately, racism is not a problem that exists only in Spain,” Infantino continued. “It exists in many, many other countries. That is why we need to take collective measures to fight against it all over the world.”
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