Ref saves Spain

Spain escaped with a fine for the racist taunting of England players partly because the referee did not mention the abuse at all in his match report.

The constant monkey chants directed towards Ashley Cole and Shaun Wright-Phillips appeared to involve hundreds of Spanish fans during the friendly in Madrid, but the Greek match official George Kasnaferis did not report it.

It is understood Kasnaferis’ omission meant FIFA’s disciplinary committee were unable to deal with the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) as severely as they would have liked.

One senior Football Association said: “Everyone in the stadium, and everyone watching on television, could hear the abuse. It is beyond belief that the referee did not mention it in his report.”

Some disciplinary committee members wanted to impose a suspended sentence as well as a fine on RFEF, meaning a ban on spectators for a match would automatically take effect for any repeat of racist behaviour, but were told such an action would bring FIFA into conflict with the Spanish legal system.

In the end, they were limited to warning that a repeat occurrence may end in such a punishment, and to imposing a fine of just under £45,000.