Uefa to bring in new sanctions for racism

Players found guilty will be banned for at least 10 games, abuse by fans will lead to stadiums being closed

Players found guilty of racist offences will be banned for a minimum of 10 matches under proposals revealed by Uefa’s general secretary Gianni Infantino.

The Uefa chief also said there would be partial closure of stadiums for a first incident of racist abuse by fans and a full closure for a second offence.

The proposed sanctions would affect all matches in European competition.

Infantino told the Soccerex forum in Manchester: “We have to have sanctions and they must have a deterrent effect and what we are proposing is if a player or official is convicted of racism they should receive a 10-match suspension at least.

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“If supporters at a club are found guilty of racist abuse the first sanction will be a partial closure of the part of the stadium from which the racist abuse took place.

“For a second offence there will be the full closure and a minimum fine of €50,000 .”

In the two high-profile cases of racist abuse by players in England, John Terry was banned for four matches and Luis Suarez for eight.