Football: FIFA to vote on making racist abuse a disciplinary offense

World football governing body, FIFA, says it wants all of its national federations to make racist abuse a disciplinary offense.

It detailed the tougher approach to tackle racism on Thursday, after months of consulting with victimized players, including Brazilian forward Vinicius Junior.

“We will make racism a specific offence with mandatory inclusion in the individual Disciplinary Codes of all 211 FIFA member associations, differentiating it from other incidents,” said newly appointed Secretary General, Mattias Grafstrom.

The measures will be put to FIFA member federations on Friday as they gather in the Thai capital, Bangkok, for their annual meeting.

They include mandatory sanctions, possible match forfeits, action on the field, and potential criminal charges.

The proposal also describes a global standard gesture, which would see a player raising their hands and crossing their wrists to alert referees to a racist incident.

This would set in motion a three-step procedure – to pause the play and broadcast warnings in the stadium, to take teams off the field, and then abandon games.

FIFA also wants to create a panel of players who will “monitor and advise on the implementation of these actions around the world”.

The sport has struggled for more than a decade to deal with racism both on the field and in stadiums.