QPR criticise Fifa and Uefa over response to alleged racist abuse of Under-18s players
- Published
Lee Hoos has been Queens Park Rangers chief executive since 2015
QPR chief executive Lee Hoos says allegations of racist abuse against his club's players have been "swept under the carpet" by Uefa and Fifa.
Hoos says the Championship club are still awaiting a decision 10 weeks after their Under-18s side walked off the field during a game in Spain.
It is alleged that players from AD Nervion racially abused QPR players during the friendly on 8 August.
QPR say they initially reported the incident to Fifa on 15 August.
"There were a substantial number of people within the game who warned me at the time that this issue would be swept under the carpet and I am appalled to see this appears to be the case," Hoos said in a statement.
"I am disgusted, embarrassed and dismayed to call them our governing bodies when they are incapable of governing."
The club said that statements were submitted to Fifa on 23 August as Uefa initially said it was outside their jurisdiction.
Rangers say world governing body Fifa took seven weeks to confirm receipt of the club's complaint before passing it back to European governing body Uefa on 9 October.
Hoos' comments come a day after Bulgaria were ordered to play two games behind closed doors and fined 75,000 euros (£65,000) after racist chants during a European Championship qualifier in Sofia on 14 October.
"Uefa have dealt with this one issue of blatant racism but both Fifa and Uefa seem to treat complaints about racism like a complaint about a broken seat in a stadium," Hoos added.
"I am left confused, frustrated and incredibly angry that more than 10 weeks after we lodged our complaint of racism, we are still awaiting a decision.
"Incredibly, despite the seriousness of this issue, it took seven weeks and the personal intervention of Greg Clarke - the chairman of the FA and vice-chairman of Fifa - to get a response from Fifa."
In response to Hoos' claims Uefa stated: "Uefa has been in regular contact with the Spanish Football Association on the matter.
"The case is still being investigated by the Andalusian Football Association - the competent body to deal with the case in the first place.
"UEFA would have the right to investigate the matter if the Spanish/Andalusian football associations closed the case without action."
A Fifa spokesperson told BBC Sport that their "position on the issue of racism is unequivocal: discrimination of any kind has no place in football".
They added: "Fifa urges all member associations, leagues, clubs and disciplinary bodies to adopt similar procedures as Fifa, as well as a zero-tolerance approach to incidents of racism in football, and to apply harsh sanctions for any such kind of behaviour."
In response to QPR's claims, Fifa said: "After carefully reviewing the file Fifa has referred it to Uefa since according to Article 27 (2) of the Fifa Disciplinary Code confederations have jurisdiction on disciplinary matters related to friendly matches and competitions between representative teams or clubs belonging to the same confederation."