Teams should lose games if fans are racist says Fifa boss

Fifa president Gianni Infantino (left) has given his support to AC Milan's Mike Maignan (centre) and Coventry City's Kasey Palmer (right) who both received racist abuse at games on Saturday

The president of Fifa, Gianni Infantino says football teams should automatically lose games if their fans commit racist abuse.

AC Milan's players walked off and play was temporarily suspended after their goalkeeper Mike Maignan was racially abused by opposition fans at Udinese in Italy on Saturday.

Meanwhile In England's Championship, Coventry's Kasey Palmer said he received similar abuse from Sheffield Wednesday fans at the weekend.

Infantino said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, that there should be harsher punishments: "We have to implement an automatic forfeit for the team whose fans have committed racism and caused the match to be abandoned.

"Fifa and football shows full solidarity to victims of racism and any form of discrimination. Once and for all: No to racism! No to any form of discrimination!"

AC Milan goalkeeper Mike Maignan raises his concerns to the referee

AC Milan's players walked off the pitch after France international goalkeeper Maignan reported hearing racist "monkey noises" coming from a section of the home crowd at Udinese. The players eventually returned to the pitch and Milan went on to win 3-2.

"This shouldn't exist in the world of football," Maignan told Milan TV.

"Something must be done to change things. "We all have to react, we must do something because you can't play like this."

Maignan expressed his anger at Saturday's incident

AC Milan and their city rivals Inter Milan have both publicly supported Maignan.

Serie A said it "condemns all forms of racism", while France striker Kylian Mbappé said "enough is enough".

Former England striker and Match of the Day pundit, Ian Wright said teams should "keep walking off" when they hear abuse and called for stronger punishment for racist behaviour.

In England's Championship Kasey Palmer was subjected to racist abuse during Coventry's 2-1 Championship win at Sheffield Wednesday.

It led to the match being stopped for several minutes while the match officials spoke to both managers.

South Yorkshire police have launched an investigation and said they "will be working alongside the clubs and West Midlands Police to understand the circumstances and identify those involved".

Sheffield Wednesday confirmed the gesture was made by someone in the stands and that those responsible would face the "strictest possible sanctions".

Kasey Palmer (left) was playing against Sheffield Wednesday when he experienced racist abuse from opposition fans

But Palmer said he wasn't sure things would change in the game, also writing on social media, he said: "Racism is a disgrace... it has no place in the world, let alone football.

"I'm black and proud and I am raising my three kids to be the exact same. I'll be honest, it feels like things will never change, no matter how hard we try.

Anti-discrimination charity Kick It Out has also given its support to both Palmer and Maignan.

"It's up to authorities and clubs to punish those responsible, but if clubs cannot prevent this happening, they too should face consequences," it said in a statement.

"We welcome stronger and more meaningful punishments, as called for by Fifa.

"It cannot be on the players to solve this. We wish it were not the case, but they are already showing courage under extreme distress and emotional trauma. They need support with actions not words."