FIFA President Gianni Infantino Releases Statement Calling For Forfeits For Racism 

Gianni Infantino, the president of FIFA, has issued a statement in which he demands that teams forfeit matches in the event that their supporters engage in racist heckling.

In reaction to racial taunts aimed at AC Milan’s goalie, Mike Maignan, during their away match against Udinese, Infantino made his comment. Maignan and the Milan players left the pitch, necessitating a brief suspension of the match. Some of the biggest names in football, including Kylian Mbappe, have thrown their support behind Maignan and asked for more action to be taken against racism in the sport.

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In a statement released on X (formerly Twitter), Infantino said: “The events that took place in Udine and Sheffield on Saturday are totally abhorrent and completely unacceptable. There is no place for racism or any form of discrimination – both in football and in society. 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.

“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!”

Infantino also makes mention of things that happened during Sheffield Wednesday’s game at Hillsborough against Coventry City. One of the home fans made a racial gesture towards Coventry’s Casey Palmer as he was about to take a corner. Wednesday denounced as “abhorrent and wholly unacceptable” the racist attack, and they are assisting the authorities in identifying the victim.

Players and supporters will be reassured by the FIFA President’s announcement that action will be done to combat racism and toughen penalties for those who incite it. If Infantino wants to actually stop the abuse in the game, he will need to act on his statements.