Zurich — Racist abuse from the stands remains widespread at football matches, and a large majority of fans do not know how to report it, an international survey showed on Wednesday. More than half of 27,000 fans interviewed by British antidiscrimination body Kick It Out and Swedish-based Forza Football across 38 countries said they had heard racist abuse being hurled at matches. Fewer than a third knew how to report it. Kick It Out and Forza Football said the results strengthened the case for points deductions in incidents of racism from a team’s supporters. Of the supporters interviewed 60% backed the idea of teams losing points in the event of racist behaviour by fans. Currently, teams are usually punished with fines or a partial stadium closure. “The governing bodies must do more to promote methods of reporting racism — clubs or countries whose supporters are racially abusive should face harsher sanctions, including points deductions,” said Herman Ousely, chair of Kick it Out. Th...
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