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| Kevin - Boateng |
The AC Milan of Italy midfielder decided his protest in the match against Italian fourth-tier side, was not the right thing to do but, ahead of a meeting with FIFA president Sepp Blatter, Boateng said there is a need for a drastic change.
The Ghanaian player said “If it’s more multi-cultural, it gets more people and more countries involved and these things can help”.
Boateng was quoted as saying by the BBC on Thursday. “Let’s hope that soon there’s going to be a black (Jose) Mourinho and Pakistani (Pep) Guardiola,” he added in reference to Real Madrid coach Mourinho and former Barcelona manager Guardiola.
Strict penalties are also needed for racist players, said Boateng.
He continue saying “A player who does something wrong, who is racist, can never play for the club again or can never play in the country again. These are the things that hurt and I think this is the right way to go. (It needs to be) very strict, very hard and make it very clear. Money doesn’t really hurt, it’s not the subject that can hurt you so much,”
English football’s reputation has suffered from players being accused of racism with Chelsea’s John Terry fined 220,000 pounds by the FA in September for racially abusing Queens Park Rangers defender Anton Ferdinand in October 2011.
Liverpool’s Luis Suarez was fined 40,000 pounds in December 2011 for racially abusing Manchester United’s Patrice Evra.
Italy has also had its share of bad publicity from racism.
On Monday, UEFA said Inter Milan were under investigation for their fans’ racist behaviour towards Tottenham Hotspur players in a Europa League match.
Last month Inter were also fined 50,000 Euros (42,570 Pounds) for abuse directed at Milan’s Mario Balotelli by supporters.
FIFA has set up an Anti-Racism and Discrimination Task Force to review the way the sport handles racist incidents, which have been the order of the day in today's football.