By Andrew Warshaw in Edinburgh
March 2 – FIFA are setting up a new crack unit to deal with the worrying resurgence of racism throughout the game, Sepp Blatter has announced.
The new body was approved by FIFA’s strategy committee but Blatter appeared to make the information public prematurely – before it has been rubber stamped by FIFA’s executive committee later this month.
Fifa insiders said they were surprised that Blatter had disclosed the task force’s existence to reporters whilst in Edinburgh and Webb himself, who is also here as part of the FIFA delegation, seemed initially somewhat cautious when asked about his new role but is expected to expand on it later today (Saturday March 2).
“The strategy committee has said we will make a task force and I have a chairman for this task force – he is Jeffrey Webb, the president of CONCACAF,” said Blatter..
“Racism is a big, big problem also of education and understanding, but we will do it because we have to kick it out.”
Calling for a “united front of the football community in our zero-tolerance policy against racism”, Blatter added: “We have to work on it but we cannot do it alone.”
The last few months have seen an alarming resurgence of cases of racist abuse both among players and fans, with a spate of sanctions meted out covering both international and club football.
Amid a seemingly never ending series of incidents, mainly in eastern Europe but also in western nations, UEFA finally got tough last week by clamping down hard on Italian club Lazio and Turkey’s Fenerbahce – ordering them both to play games behind closed doors – after being accused of being too lenient with previous punishments.
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