UEFA approved new guidelines for match officials to deal with racist chants or other behavior during games. The rules allow the referee to first issue a warning over the public address system requesting that the behavior cease. If this doesn’t work, the referee can suspend the game for five to 10 minutes. “As a third and final step, if the racist behavior does not cease after the game has restarted, the referee shall as a last resort, definitively abandon the match,” UEFA added.
UEFA president Michel Platini said the rules were aimed at giving the people on the ground the power to act. The executive body also decided that any consequences, such as forfeit, stadium suspension or fines from the racism outbreak “will be dealt with by the UEFA disciplinary bodies.”
A number of racist incidents, mainly involving chants from home fans, have blighted matches in recent years. UEFA has often been criticized for imposing relatively minor fines and sanctions on the governing bodies of offending nations.