FIFA President addresses Red Card to Racism in Football in Vienna, Austria
Event jointly organised by FIFA, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the Government of Brazil
Mr Infantino emphasises that racism and discrimination are crimes
FIFA President Gianni Infantino has urged policy makers, legislators and criminal justice professionals from around the world to join FIFA in the fight against racism and discrimination by imposing criminal penalties on offenders. Mr Infantino said that FIFA could not win the battle against racism alone and needed the collaboration of law enforcement authorities around the world.
The FIFA President delivered a pre-recorded video message to the Red Card to Racism in Football event in Vienna, Austria, jointly organised by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and FIFA together with the Government of Brazil, and supported by the Spanish and United Kingdom governments.
The event – part of the UNODC’s 34th Session of the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice – focused on the need to bring criminal charges for racism at football matches, as outlined in the historic Global Stand Against Racism which was taken by the 211 FIFA Member Associations at the 74th FIFA Congress in Bangkok, Thailand, on Friday, 17 May 2024.
The panel included FIFA Legends Juan Pablo Sorín, former Argentina captain, and Lotta Schelin, all-time top scorer for the Sweden women's national team; together with Sheila de Carvalho, Secretary for Access to Justice for the Ministry of Justice and Public Security, Brazil; Raúl Rodríguez Porras, Deputy Director General for Legal Affairs of the National Higher Council, Spain; Michael Ankers, United Kingdom Football Policing Unit; and Gerd Dembowski, FIFA Head of Human Rights & Anti-Discrimination a.i..
Describing the conference as an important milestone in the fight against racism, Mr Infantino said that when he signed the initial Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the UNODC Executive Director Ghada Waly in 2020 (with the MoU subsequently renewed in 2023), they expected a long battle in which they would need allies.
“We knew that, like any great football team, we would need to attack and to defend together. FIFA's Global Stand Against Racism called for the football world to take action, to educate, to raise awareness and, when necessary, to punish,” he said.
The FIFA President emphasised that football sanctions alone were insufficient. “Fines for clubs, points deductions for teams and stadium bans for individuals are the limit of what we can do. Racism and discrimination – they are not just wrong, they are crimes.”
He added: “We need to work together to create an enhanced legal framework that ensures when football authorities take action, law enforcement authorities all over the world can do so too and impose appropriate criminal penalties. It is only by coordinating our efforts – FIFA, UNODC, policy makers, all of us – that we can do this.”
Mr Dembowski said that the importance of bringing criminal charges against perpetrators was one of the main suggestions in conversations that had come up with players. He suggested three areas of action:
Legislate racist abuse in sport as a specific hate crime, anchored in proportionality: balanced for youth, firm for adults.
Create fast‑track procedures, so justice is measured in days, not months.
Ensure technical training for police, prosecutors and judges, attuned to youth diversion and adult sentencing tracks.
He added that it was important to differentiate between adults and youth offenders, with an emphasis on rehabilitation for the latter.
“Together, we need to convince authorities that football-related racism needs to be treated as a criminal offence. We need judicial systems to ensure that racism and hate speech in sport is recognised as racism in society. It is not a trivial, not a petty offence,” he said.
UNODC – FIFA: "Red Card to Racism in Football"
Mr Sorín said football’s popularity could be used to influence policies.
“National football associations, and I also think everyone in this room here, have a duty of care to advocate for stronger national laws, with the support of governments, while using football’s global reach to build pressure and create awareness,” he said.
Ms Schelin spoke of the importance of enforcing existing laws.
“Racist abuse is already a crime in many countries, but these laws are rarely applied, whether at stadiums and training grounds or online. And that gap leaves victims isolated and perpetrators empowered,” she said. “We’re calling for a clear link between the reporting of cases at the stadium and the action taken by the relevant civil and legal authorities away from the stadium. There is a need for transparency on how decisions are made, and for accountability when existing systems fail to act.”