FA stunned as Spaniards escape with fine for racist taunts

SENIOR England FA figures were last night said to be “stunned” at FIFA’s decision to let the Spanish authorities escape with a fine and a final warning for the appalling racist abuse of England players in Madrid.

Publicly, the FA accepted FIFA’s announcement that the Spanish Football Federation were to be fined 100,000 Swiss Francs (€64,850) for the misconduct of thousands of their fans at last month’s friendly.

But leading officials were privately still dismayed that FIFA had not gone further than issuing a warning that any repetition may lead to matches being played behind closed doors or expulsion from one or more FIFA competitions, such as the World Cup.

The anti-racism campaign group Kick It Out described the punishment as “simply not good enough”, claiming it proved FIFA were not taking the issue seriously enough.

FIFA embarked upon a month-long investigation into the widespread racist abuse hurled at several England players, most notably Shaun Wright-Phillips and Ashley Cole, during the game in the Bernabeu.

This followed similar, albeit lower-profile, taunts aimed at England Under-21 players the previous evening, and the FA immediately expressed their horror at the abuse.

However, they still tried to steer a diplomatic path by avoiding direct appeals for strong action.

Their statement read: “Following the deplorable acts of racism which occurred in Madrid last month, the FA expressed their strong views and concerns to FIFA, UEFA and the Spanish Federation in writing.

“At that time, the FA stated very clearly that it was ultimately FIFA’s responsibility to determine what disciplinary action should be taken.

“The FA must accept FIFA’s decision to fine the Spanish FA 100,000 Swiss Francs.

“The FA are firmly committed to fighting racism in football at all levels of the game.

“We will continue to adopt a zero tolerance approach to any racist behaviour in English football and whenever any of our teams play abroad.

“Racism is the scourge of the game and it is the responsibility of all who care about football to do everything within their power to eradicate it.”