Ghanaian international star Kevin-Prince Boateng has called on Fifa to give more power to referees to enable them tackle racism head on during soccer matches.
On 3 January last Boateng took the bold step of walking off the pitch with his AC Milan team-mates following racial chants against him from some Italian fans.
“When I left the pitch against Pro Patria, I know it wasn’t the right decision, but at that moment I was very angry and very emotional,” Boateng told Fifa president Sepp Blatter during a visit to Geneva for the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, an event organised as part of the 22nd regular session of the United Nations Human Rights Council.
Boateng added: “I spoke to the referee about it very early on, but after 26 minutes I just lost it and walked off the pitch.
“It shouldn’t be the decision of the player, though. I think that referees should perhaps have more power in this area and they should take their courage in their own hands. But it’s not easy and I realise that.”
Blatter described racism and other scourges of the game, such as violence, cheating and doping, as “unfortunate” in “our extremely popular sport, which involves nearly a billion people throughout the world”.
He added: “At Fifa we try to tackle all of them, but the question of discrimination angers me in particular. It’s abhorrent and we have to combat this evil, but it’s difficult to find the adequate response.”
Both Blatter and Boateng said appropriate sanctions should be handed to offenders in cases like this, adding that it is also a difficult issue.
“I’m a player and so I know that a points deduction might not go down well,” said Boateng. “But we need to be very strict in this domain and, if there are rules, we have to apply them. We absolutely need to have a real threat of sanctions.”
