Platini warns Euro 2012 players: Not to Walk out of the pitch if suffer racist abuse
Mario Balotelli has said he will leave the pitch if there are racists chants in Poland and Ukraine
Warning: UEFA President Michel Platini says players will be booked if they walk off the pitch after suffering racist abuse
Uefa boss Michel Platini last night warned Euro 2012 stars they would
be punished if they walked off the pitch after suffering racist abuse.
Italy’s Mario Balotelli claimed last week he would stop playing
if he became the target of racist chants in Poland and Ukraine.
But Platini said that far from being supported, the act of protest would be met with a caution.
“It is not Mr Balotelli who is in charge of refereeing,” Platini said. “It is the referee who takes these decisions.”
Then Platini checked with former referee Pierluigi Collina, who was
sitting in the audience at a press conference at the National Stadium
here. I am the law: Former Italian referee Pierluigi Collina
The FA via Getty
“Yes,” Platini said, “if a player leaves the field on their own, it is a yellow card.”
Platini’s inflexible stance will dismay those who are already
concerned that matches at the tournament could be marred by racism.
But the Uefa president was keen to stress that he would back referees
if they decided to cancel a match because of persistent racist crowd
abuse.
“I am hoping that eastern European fans will make this tournament a great celebration, not a problem,” Platini said.
“But we will stop the game if there are problems because I think racism is the worst of these.
“We have given referees the power to stop games temporarily if they
see a problem like this and then to cancel the game definitively if the
racism keeps rearing its head.
“If the game is stopped, the matter will be referred to our disciplinary committee and they have a zero tolerance policy.”
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