PFA unveil anti-racism plan

The Professional Footballers’ Association has announced proposals which are aimed at tackling racism in the sport.

The PFA has been criticised for not doing enough to tackle the issue and in response the organisation has outlined a six-point plan which it hopes will eradicate racism from football.

Tougher penalties could see culprits sacked and ordered to attend awareness programmes, while the PFA is keen to ensure there is equality within the sport.

The plan calls for:

1 Speeding up the process of dealing with reported racist abuse with close monitoring of any incidents.

2 Consideration of stiffer penalties for racist abuse and to include an equality awareness programme for culprits and clubs involved.

3 An English form of the ‘Rooney rule’ – introduced by the NFL in America in 2003 – to make sure qualified black coaches are on interview lists for job vacancies.

4 The proportion of black coaches and managers to be monitored and any inequality or progress highlighted.

5 Racial abuse to be considered gross misconduct in player and coach contracts (and therefore potentially a sackable offence).

6 To not to lose sight of other equality issues such as gender, sexual orientation, disability, anti-Semitism, Islamophobia and Asians in football.

The announcement of the six-point plan comes in the wake of a weekend of controversy surrounding the ‘Kick It Out’ campaign, which resulted in reports of a potential breakaway black players’ union.

“If they want their own particular select group who they feel they can influence everybody more than the whole PFA as a union together, I would say they are seriously mistaken,” PFA chief executive Gordon Taylor said.

“If we are not careful this will set us back years. It would not only set back the game, it would set back the anti-racist initiative.”