Just when you thought it was safe to watch Spanish football, racism is back with a vengeance. Sunday’s derby between the two Madrid sides was entirely overshadowed by racist chanting from the Atletico fans, most of which was aimed at Brazilian Roberto Carlos.

It got so bad at one stage that the referee went over to the fourth official to get him to ask the stadium announcer to appeal for the fans to stop their chanting. It didn’t work.

If there is any justice in such despicable circumstance then it came in the form of the result with Real winning 3-0. Although that too is tinged with more than a little irony as Real’s fans have not exactly been blameless this season on the racial front.

There is, most definitely, a problem in Spain the likes of which has not been seen elsewhere in Europe for many, many years. And we don’t seem to be able to rely on football’s governing body to stamp it out either.

FIFA showed last month it is a spineless, gutless association by handing out a paltry fine to Spain for the racist abuse dished out by their fans last year, most notably during the match with England.

So, with Blatter’s beuracrats ruled out of resolving the situation, I can only hope the Spanish government itself starts to take action by coming down hard on anybody found to have been chanting and by launching a widespread campaign against racism.

Alternatively maybe the Spanish FA itself may decide to get down from the fence on which it has been perched for some considerable time now and start to dish out some meaningful punishments of its own. In the past football has had to overcome a number of reputation-damaging problems like hooliganism and crowd trouble.

The sport doesn’t need another mentally challenged minority dragging its name through the mud.

The offside rule

The Welsh Football Association, in a rare moment of clarity for football officials, has come up with a proposal to radically overhaul the offside rule.

Under their planned change, no player could be adjudged to be offside unless he was closer to the goal than the 18-yard line – the edge of the penalty box. At first glance this sounds like a pretty good idea. It would certainly help the flow of the game and stop defenders springing the offside trap every other attack.

It would also make the jobs of assistant referees that much easier knowing their most crucial decisions would be limited to one specific area. But there are also problems with the suggestion like, for example, that it would mean teams could effectively employ a striker to just stand on the edge of the penalty box waiting for the ball.

It could also see a return to the days of the long ball as teams with lesser skilled individuals would no doubt be tempted to play seven foot strikers who would arguably be within heading range of the goal without being offside.

The proposals will be debated by the International Board in February and, if six of the eight members agree, trials of the new system will be carried out in lower leagues over the next few seasons.

Even then the new rules would still not be certainly introduced. The last major change tried out by the International Board was the replacement of throw-ins by kick-ins. This was tested at lower league level and found to be totally unworkable.

Personally I don’ think the idea is totally workable but at least it’s nice to know there are others who believe the current ‘passive’ and ‘impassive’ rule is little more than confusing. It does need a change. But a little more studying will have to be carried out before we discover what that change should be.

The FA Cup

Don’t you just love the FA Cup? Traditionally it’s the stuff that dreams are made of and last weekend was no exception as the minnows met the mighty in the fight for third round glory.

Although there were no major upsets, a few Premiership teams were eliminated at the hands of Championship opposition, including Aston Villa by my very own Sheffield United. But the tie of the round has to have been tiny, non-league Exeter who held Manchester United to a goalless draw at Old Trafford against all the odds.

Sure, the little club will almost certainly get hammered in the next round when Fergie plays his full team, but that will not detract from their fantastic achievement in even taking the tie to a replay in the first place.

Then again it’s not only about glory. There are also financial considerations to take into account. By playing that one game at Old Trafford, Exeter wiped out all the club’s debt. And that, to my mind, just makes the cup even more magical.

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