Time for Spain to explain

FIFA yesterday demanded an explanation from the Spanish football federation for the abuse aimed at England’s black players and called for “the scourge of racism” to be eradicated from the game.

Ashley Cole and Shaun Wright-Phillips were both targeted during Wednesday’s friendly in Madrid, which followed considerable racist abuse during the England U21 game on Tuesday.

Under FIFA’s disciplinary code, Spain could now be forced to play their next World Cup qualifier against San Marino on February 9 behind closed doors.