FIFA Tells Referees to Stop Match When Racism Occurs
The Facts
FIFA Pres. Gianni Infantino announced a new “zero-tolerance” anti-racism campaign that will involve a committee composed of players, headlined by Brazil and Real Madrid forward Vinicius Junior, whom Infantino met with after he was verbally abused last month.
Vinicius will be a prominent member of the new task force that will make recommendations for stronger punishments for discriminatory behavior. Infantino also added that referees must stop any match when racism occurs.
The Spin
Narrative A
Under Gianni Infantino’s leadership, FIFA is taking the bold and moral stand to stomp out racism from football by any means necessary. The FIFA president knows the injustice and abuse Black players endure, which is why he asked Vinicius Junior and other players to collaborate on the new zero-tolerance task force. While FIFA hasn’t been perfect in protecting players from abuse, it is 100% committed to eliminating racism from the game completely.
Narrative B
FIFA may act like it deeply cares about ending racism in soccer, but the fact is that the last anti-racism task force was dismantled almost immediately after Infantino was elected as FIFA’s president. That enabled the past seven years of rampant abuse that has been a scourge on the sport. There is so much work that needs to be done, and a lot of it involves undoing the damage Infantino has done since disbanding the last anti-racism campaign.