FIFA to help Russia to tackle racism problem ahead of 2018 World Cup

Federico Addiechi said that FIFA would provide additional support to the Russian Football Union to help combat discrimination prior to the 2018 World Cup ©AFP/Getty Images

FIFA are set to provide additional support to Russia to tackle the country’s problems with racism ahead of the 2018 World Cup and claim they hope the tournament will have a “positive impact” on the country.

Federico Addiechi, FIFA’s head of sustainability, described a report here detailing the country's problems with racism as “significant” but rejected notions that Russia could be stripped of the tournament should reports continue to cast a negative light on the country in the years building up to the event.

“We expect the FIFA World Cup to have a positive impact, not just on the discrimination issue," he said.

“The World Cup 2018 will take place in Russia, there has been a commitment by the Russian Government and Russian football authorities in staging an inclusive World Cup and ensuring that everyone is safe and welcome in the country.

“We see in this case that our Member Association the Russian Football Union are in need to extra support and that is the sort of support that we can provide.

“And we hope that reports we receive in the next few years have a positive trend.”

Addiechi was speaking at the launch of FIFA’s Anti-Discrimination Monitoring System for the 2018 FIFA World Cup Preliminary competition, which implements recommendations of the FIFA Task Force against Racism and Discrimination.

The system provided by Fare, an anti-discrimination an social inclusion network, will take into account aspects such as the history between nations and fan groups, stadiums and the diversity of teams and analyse their risk level of each of the matches.

Manchester City's Ivory Coast international Yaya Toure was subject to racist abuse during a Champions League game against CSKA Moscow in 2013 ©Getty Images

Following the risk assessment, anti-discrimination match observers will be appointed and provide FIFA with a report within 24 hours of the conclusion of the high risk matches, throughout the preliminary competition and the 2017 Confederations Cup in Russia.

FIFA will then analyse the report to determine whether they need to open disciplinary cases against countries, in the event that discriminatory incidents have occurred.

Russia has come under mounting criticism following several high-profile instances of racist abuse during matches in the country, including chants aimed at Congo defender Christopher Samba and Yaya Toure, the four-time African footballer of the Year.

It led to anti-racism organisation Football Against Racism in Europe suggesting in October that African teams might boycott the competition.

Toure also suggested a potential boycott after he had been subject to racist abuse during a Champions League tie against CSKA Moscow in 2013, which resulted in European football’s governing body UEFA forcing the partial closure of the Russian club's stadium for a later match in the competition.

The Ivory Coast and Manchester City midfielder, a member of the FIFA Task Force against Racism and Discrimination, welcomed the implementation of the monitoring system but wants further sanctions against countries and clubs and believes education is required to help tackle the problem.

Yara Toure called for meaningful sanctions to be carried out to help to combat discrimination ©AFP/Getty Images

“As a sportsman you want to continue to the end, but when you hear something like that it breaks you,” Toure said.

"Education is key for fans to know that racism is not okay.

“We want fans to enjoy football and support the team"

Fare network will also be responsible for recruiting and training match observers, while aiming to promote self-regulation amongst fans and provide training for key FIFA staff, match officials and teams.

The training of match officials, whom players are most likely to turn to in the event of abuse, aims to help provide them with clear guidelines on how to deal with situations in a positive manner and follows advice of Task Force members, including former FIFA referee Howard Webb, the Englishman who refereed the 2010 World Cup final between Spain and The Netherlands.

Heather Rabbatts, chair of the English Football Association’s Inclusion Advisory Board and a consultant to the Taskforce, believes the system focus on the collective responsibility of protecting players.

"The weight can't be on the shoulders of a black player who was subjected to abuse who has been subject to abuse on the field of play,” she said.

“The issue of discrimination and how it should be challenged is about our collective responsibility.”