Exclusive: Players’ union demands scrapping of rules punishing walking off pitch in protest...

[ASFN Admin]

Football’s world players’ union has demanded the scrapping of rules under which those who walk off the pitch in protest at racist abuse face punishment for doing so. Following the unprecedented racism storm to engulf the game last week – which saw Paris St Germain and Istanbul Basaksehir refuse to continue their Champions League match on Tuesday night – FifPro has called for a change to current regulations governing the failure by teams to complete a match. The union also demanded an end to the three-step protocol for responding to racist abuse from spectators after Gareth Southgate warned England may no longer follow it. Under football’s current rules, players and teams are not allowed to leave the field without the permission of the referee and face being punished for doing so if it leads to a match being abandoned. A FifPro spokesman said: “If a player is racially abused or discriminated against, he or she – and team-mates – must be free to walk off the pitch without facing any disciplinary action. This would be a human rights issue, and mean authorities have failed to protect a player at his or her place of work. “We would strongly support an amendment to football regulations to protect a player and his or her teammates in these circumstances. “But also, in the absence of such a rule, we would consider that the players’ right to take action against such abuse should never lead to a sanction.” Telegraph Sport has been told PSG and Basaksehir should be in the clear over Tuesday’s walk-off – which took place over allegations a match official had racially abused a black member of the Turkish team’s coaching staff – because the regulations governing the Champions League group stage do not cover circumstances in which both teams refuse to play. The unprecedented scenes sparked warnings such protests could become commonplace, with England potentially staging their own after Southgate revealed they may refuse to follow the three-strike rule currently in force for racist incidents. England Under-21 manager Aidy Boothroyd also said he would support his players walking off the pitch in protest at racist abuse ahead of next year’s European Championships finals in Slovenia. Southgate, speaking the day before Tuesday’s game, but after race rows engulfed Millwall and Colchester United last weekend, was at the centre of a major incident when his players were abused by Bulgaria fans during their 6-0 European Championship qualifying win last year. England were forced to adhere to a three-step protocol under which the game was twice halted, with a third strike required for it to be abandoned altogether. FifPro said: “It is not fair or acceptable that a player has to face three instances of racism or discrimination before suitable action is taken. Nor do we believe that the onus should be on a victim of abuse to be the one obliged to take action to protect themselves. If that is needed, we must conclude the relevant rules have failed.” Piara Powar, the executive director of the Fare network, which helps Uefa prosecute discriminatory acts, disputed whether a change of regulations was necessary for teams to walk off over racist abuse. “If you really want to be radical, just do it and then argue about it afterwards,” he told Telegraph Sport. “You won’t be locked up. You’ll have the opportunity to have a debate about this publicly and privately with whoever wants to sanction you.” Powar was confident “common sense would prevail” when it came to decisions about whether to punish a team for walking off. He added: “I think they would look at it and say, ‘Okay, they had good reason to walk off. We accept that. We won’t charge them’. I don’t necessarily think it’s an essential thing for them to close the loophole.” And he was critical of Southgate and the Football Association over England’s strict adherence to the three-step protocol in Bulgaria. “To hear Gareth Southgate now saying that the procedure needs to be more radical is a bit of a surprise when they were on the soft side of triggering it in the Bulgaria game,” he said. “I’m always confused about how much knowledge Southgate and his team and the FA have. “I get fed up with the difference between their public statements and speculations and what they actually do, if I’m honest. Because, over the years, I’ve seen what they have and haven’t said and raised in international environments with governing bodies.”

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