UEFA maintains stand against racism

Both the UEFA Executive Committee and the Professional Football Strategy Council (PFSC), which comprises representatives from UEFA's member associations, clubs (ECA), leagues (EPFL) and players (FIFPro), have today repeated a call for strict sanctions to be applied in the event of incidents of a racist nature at football matches.

The Executive Committee and the PFSC, meeting separately in Turin, Italy, call upon the responsible bodies to implement the strong measures that were approved by all UEFA member associations at the 2013 Ordinary UEFA Congress in London, whereby incidents of a racist nature must be punished by partial stadium closure for a first such occurrence, and by full stadium closure and a fine of €50,000 for a second such offence by supporters. The UEFA Executive Committee and the PFSC also stressed the importance of a strict application of the so-called "three-step procedure", which empowers referees to abandon a match in case of racist behaviour by fans.

"The UEFA Executive Committee strongly condemns all acts of discrimination and I was outraged by the incidents which took place in recent weeks," said UEFA President Michel Platini. "It is unacceptable for anyone to be racially insulted or abused inside our stadiums, and we simply cannot tolerate it. We call on all our member associations and stakeholders to apply a zero-tolerance policy against all forms of discrimination and to follow the UEFA guidelines in sanctioning all guilty parties. Our statutes were recently amended to ensure all UEFA member associations adopt effective policies to eradicate racism."

The voting procedure for the allocation of matches for UEFA EURO 2020 was confirmed, and the announcement ceremony will take place at the Espace Hippomène in Geneva on 19 September. The winning bid for the final and two semi-finals will be selected first, followed by the four venues which will host the quarter-finals and three group matches. Subsequently, regional zones, which will be finalised by the end of August by the UEFA Executive Committee members whose associations are not bidding, will apply for the appointment of venues for the round of 16 and three group games, before the remaining venues are decided for the remaining matches. Regional zoning, each comprising at least two venues, will ensure that games are held all over Europe.

The UEFA Executive Committee approved various competition and medical regulations, while Armenia, Latvia, Lithuania and Montenegro were admitted to the UEFA Coaching Convention at Pro level. The 'UEFA Foundation' project structure was ratified. The foundation, approved by the UEFA member associations at the 2014 Ordinary UEFA Congress in Astana, is to be established to help children by providing support in the areas of health, education, access to sport, personal development, integration of minorities and defending the rights of the child. It will comprise a board, secretariat and auditing body, and will be registered in Nyon during 2014.