Rio: Fifa are soft on racism
Rio Ferdinand calls on Fifa to ramp up their punishments for racism
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Wednesday, 08, Oct 2008 10:49
England defender Rio Ferdinand has called on Fifa to "take a look at themselves" after accusing the world governing body of being soft on racism.
Speaking ahead of the World Cup qualifier against Kazakhstan this weekend, Ferdinand referred to the fine handed to Croatia over the behaviour of their supporters during England's 4-1 victory in Zagreb last month.
Sound microphones inside the stadium picked up racist chanting and monkey noises apparently being directed towards England's black players, specifically Emile Heskey, inside the Maksimir Stadium.
However, the punishment for the Croatian FA was to be fined just 30,000 Swiss francs (£14,900) over the issue.
And Ferdinand believes such sanctions will do little to encourage national associations to crack down on fans' behaviour.
"Fifa make comments about what they will do but never back it up with actions," the Manchester United centre-back told the BBC.
"The football authorities need to take a look at themselves.
"Croatia were fined a few thousand quid, but what the hell is that going to do? That is not going to stop people shouting racist or homophobic abuse."
Ferdinand believes a more heavy-handed, zero-tolerance approach would be more effective than various high-profile, lip-service campaigns in helping to stamp out discrimination in the game.
"[Fifa president] Sepp Blatter likes to speak up about things that are good for Fifa's image," the defender continued.
"But I would love to see them stand up and dish out the right punishments for these incidents.
"If things like this keep happening you have to take points off them, then the punters will realise the team is going to be punished."