FIFA Boss Pledges Zero Tolerance for Doping, Racism

FIFA president Gianni Infantino has promised to take a hard-line approach against racism and doping at next year’s World Cup in Russia.

The likes of Yaya Toure and Hulk are among the high-profile names to have spoken about being subjected to racist abuse in Russia in recent years, and the topic of how to deal with discrimination has been a key talking point in the build-up to the World Cup, Bein sport reported on its website.

Infantino has vowed to take a zero-tolerance approach to racism, including stopping games if necessary, but is confident that no incidents will occur during the showpiece tournament.

Speaking on a YouTube video, posted on FIFA’s website just four days before the World Cup draw, he said: “When it comes to anti-discrimination it is the same at FIFA. This is a very high priority and we’ll make sure that no incidents will happen. If incidents happen then we have for the first time in a World Cup the so-called three-step procedure where a referee can stop a game or even abandon a game if there are discriminatory racist incidents. This is absolutely not tolerable and we will be very, very firm on that so we can expect fair play in Russia.”

Infantino also addressed the issue of doping tests, with the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) still suspended.

“We expect fair play on the pitch and when speaking about fair play we have to speak about anti-discrimination and anti-doping as well,” he said. “Speaking about doping obviously all players in all teams will be tested in competition and out of competition and we are sure that everyone is well aware of this situation.”