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![]() Sunday, March 29, 1998 Published at 09:27 GMT 10:27 UK ![]() ![]() ![]() Sport: Football ![]() Red card for racists ![]() Arsenal's Ian Wright has accused opponents of racism
Soccer players and club managers could be sacked for being racist under proposals being unveiled by the government's independent Football Task Force.
The report, due to be published on Monday, also calls on the government to target racially abusive spectators.
The task force, chaired by Chelsea fan, BBC Radio 5 Live presenter and former Tory minister David Mellor, said: "What we are trying to do is provide a comprehensive blueprint to deal with racism in the game."
It wants offenders punished with "severe sanctions" such as fines or dismissal.
The recommendations also include local councils' exercising powers to ban from
council-owned playing facilities football clubs with a record of involvement in
racist incidents.
At all professional clubs and Vauxhall Conference clubs, ground regulations
should be amended to make racist abuse an offence separate from the use of
foul-language, the report says.
It also proposes that clubs set up confidential freephone hotlines to enable supporters to
report incidents of racist abuse.
Football stewards should receive special, mandatory training to ensure they
are equipped to deal with incidents of racism.
Another anomaly is the fact that non-whites make up 7.3% of the population in
England but just 1% of Premier League crowds.
The task force warns that it is to the game's detriment that these imbalances
exist. Quality players are being discouraged and potential spectators lost.
"As long as black and Asian fans do not have confidence that they can attend
matches and be treated with respect, clubs will continue to miss out on a big
market," the report concludes.
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