English football has no plans to suffer losses from racist abuse despite Infantino's statement | Football

English football has no plans to improve protocols tackling racist abuse, despite FIFA president Gianni Infantino asking for an automatic loss of games by teams whose fans cause abandonment with racist behavior.

Individual competitions have the right to decide what measures they want to take in the event of abandonment. The process adopted internationally is to reschedule matches and it is thought unlikely that the English Premier League Soccer League or the Football Association would change that without consensus in English football.

A new focus on processes to tackle abuse comes after Infantino's comments, which followed last weekend's racist incidents in Serie A and the Championship. The rules dictate a three-step process by which the referee is the first to report any abuse. If the abuse continues, the referee temporarily removes the teams from the field. If players return and the abuse continues, the players will be removed a second time and the match will be suspended.

On Saturday Milan withdrew from the field against Udinese after sustained abuse of their goalkeeper Mike Maignan by the home fans, but returned to the field and completed the match. In the EFL, play was temporarily stopped at Sheffield Wednesday after Coventry midfielder Kasey Palmer reported monkey gestures addressed to him by the crowd.

“We need to implement an automatic suspension for the team whose fans have committed racism and caused the abandonment of the match, as well as bans from stadiums around the world and criminal charges for racists,” Infantino said. Udinese have said they intend to give a lifetime ban to spectators found guilty of racially abusing Maignan.

Infantino's words will be well received by many in football. Ian Wright, in a post on X, summed up the frustration widely felt at the slow progress in eradicating racism on football fields. Commenting on the Maignan incident, Wright said: “Keep walking!! We did “play” and nothing has changed. Point deductions are needed, fines are meaningless.”

According to Law 7.5 of the rules of the game defined by the International Football Association Board, “an abandoned match is replayed unless the competition rules or the organizers determine otherwise.”

The FA, first division and EFL have, in recent years, increasingly taken a joined-up approach to disorder. In 2022 they agreed on common measures to address a growing trend of invasions and throwing objects onto the pitch. It is understood that any reform of the three-stage protocol and approach to dropouts would have to be agreed in a similar way.

Omar Beckles, president of the Professional Footballers' Association, said: “Our members want to see real, consistent and meaningful consequences of racist abuse, both for the individuals responsible and for the clubs that fail to control the problem within their stadiums. The reality “It's that the players don't believe this is happening. The responsibility for what happens next lies with the authorities.”