Spain aiming for zero tolerance of racism - Minister
Madrid, July 2 (Reuters) - Spain's sports minister Jaime Lissavetzky has said the introduction of legislation to combat racism in sport is aimed at bringing about "zero tolerance" of the problem.
Lissavetzky has introduced a draft law proposing tougher measures to deal with the incidents of racism that have plagued Spanish sport, and in particular soccer, in recent years.
"We are aiming to develop a policy of zero tolerance with regard to acts of racism or xenophobia in sport," Lissavetzky was quoted as saying in Spanish daily El Pais on Sunday.
"There is no effective way of measuring degrees of racism, but there are certain types of behaviour such as racist chants and monkey noises that we cannot ignore."
Outbreaks of racist abuse by fans at Spanish stadiums has become commonplace in recent years, but the punishments given under existing law are light, with small fines for clubs the usual sanction meted out by the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF).
Lissavetzky said that larger fines, stadium closures, control of ultra groups of fans, the deduction of points and even forcible relegation would be included in the package of measures to combat the problem.
The law would also attempt to remove the legal obstacles that prevent foreigners from playing in Spain's non-professional lower divisions.
The draft proposals, which have the unanimous support of the Spanish parliament, will be debated from September and are likely to become law at the start of 2007.
The Spanish government has taken a keen interest in improving the legislation concerning sport and has also put forward a draft law which will introduce tougher measures to deal with the problem of doping.
Source: Rueters
Lissavetzky has introduced a draft law proposing tougher measures to deal with the incidents of racism that have plagued Spanish sport, and in particular soccer, in recent years.
"We are aiming to develop a policy of zero tolerance with regard to acts of racism or xenophobia in sport," Lissavetzky was quoted as saying in Spanish daily El Pais on Sunday.
"There is no effective way of measuring degrees of racism, but there are certain types of behaviour such as racist chants and monkey noises that we cannot ignore."
Outbreaks of racist abuse by fans at Spanish stadiums has become commonplace in recent years, but the punishments given under existing law are light, with small fines for clubs the usual sanction meted out by the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF).
Lissavetzky said that larger fines, stadium closures, control of ultra groups of fans, the deduction of points and even forcible relegation would be included in the package of measures to combat the problem.
The law would also attempt to remove the legal obstacles that prevent foreigners from playing in Spain's non-professional lower divisions.
The draft proposals, which have the unanimous support of the Spanish parliament, will be debated from September and are likely to become law at the start of 2007.
The Spanish government has taken a keen interest in improving the legislation concerning sport and has also put forward a draft law which will introduce tougher measures to deal with the problem of doping.
Source: Rueters
posted by garrettmullan
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