Referees can stop matches for racist abuse - UEFA
July 2, 2009UEFA have approved new guidelines for match officials to deal with racist chants which includes stopping the game.
The new rules will allow the referee to first stop a match and issue a warning over the public address system requesting that the racist behaviour cease. If this does not work, the official could suspend the game for 5 to 10 minutes.
“As a third and final step, if the racist behaviour does not cease after the game has restarted, the referee shall as a last resort, definitively abandon the match,” UEFA said in a statement.
The executive body also decided that any consequences, such as forfeit, stadium suspension, fines or others, from the racism outbreak “will be dealt with by the UEFA disciplinary bodies”.
A number of racist incidents have blighted matches in recent years and UEFA have often been criticised for imposing relatively minor fines and sanctions on the culprits.
England are now seven wins from seven in Group Six, so a win over Croatia in September will see Capello's men heading to the World Cup 2010 in South Africa
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