FIFA has introduced an influential new plan to eliminate racism from the game of football, as it revealed on Friday a Players’ Voice Panel with 16 members. Long-time figures such as George Weah, Didier Drogba, and Brazil’s Formiga were among those appointed.
The group, comprising men’s and women’s players from 14 countries, will be responsible to football’s governing body, FIFA, for co-ordinating anti-racism measures, leading public awareness initiatives and supporting changes designed to root out discrimination throughout the game.
“The 16 people on the panel will be a big support to educational activities at all levels of the game and pave the way for many new ideas on how to create lasting change,” stated FIFA President Gianni Infantino. “Let us be in no doubt as to this point: racism and discrimination are not only morally wrong — they are crimes.”
The timing of the panel’s constitution is significant, following a series of incidents, such as the case of Antoine Semenyo, the Bournemouth striker, who was racially abused at Anfield on the Premier League opening day. Infantino said that the panel would be meeting victims like Semenyo face-to-face to give them support and represent them.
Weah, the 1995 Ballon d’Or winner and Liberia’s ex-president, said that he was honoured to take the position: “Sport, football especially, is the unifier and the driver of evolution. It also elevates mankind. I will always demonstrate the same zeal, as in the past and the present, to promote the sport through football because football is life.”
FIFA has already made its stand against racism more prominent, with the imposition of higher fines of up to 5 million Swiss francs ($6.24m) for offenders and the introduction of a three-step protocol that gives referees the authority to stop or even abandon a game if the abuse continues.
Players’ Voice Panel Members
Weah (Liberia), Drogba (Ivory Coast), Adebayor (Togo), Mercy Akide (Nigeria), Cordoba (Colombia), Formiga (Brazil), Matuidi (France), Sorin (Argentina), Miyama (Japan), Sun Jihai (China), Lotta Schelin (Sweden), Briana Scurry (USA), Jessica Houara (France), Maia Jackman (New Zealand), Khalilou Fadiga (Senegal), Mikael Silvestre (France).
