UEFA declared yesterday that education is the long-term solution to eradicating racism in football and not sanctions against clubs whose fans commit racist outbursts.
UEFA officials, former players and grass-roots organizations gathered in Warsaw for the last day of a two-day conference on fighting racism in the sport, concluding that education must play a central role in solving the problem in Europe.
"We urge all football associations and clubs all over Europe to do their share of the fight against racism and discrimination," UEFA spokesman William Gaillard said. "Some FAs are having more problems than others, we are well aware of that.
"At the same time, we are conscious that this kind of phenomenon does not disappear overnight, that some social conditions or historical conditions are more complex than others."
UEFA president Michel Platini made anti-racism a cornerstone of his election campaign last year. He was expected to speak at the anti-racism conference in Warsaw, but was instead in the Balkans for a three-day trip tied to racism in the region.
Football officials continue to grapple with how to best overcome racism in the sport. Officials have condemned fan racism and issued fines, but penalizing clubs or nations in ways that would hurt both them and their fans - such as disqualification from tournaments, forfeiting points or stopping a match - is something they have been reluctant to do.
In his opening remarks to the conference on Tuesday, UEFA general secretary David Taylor said that "without doubt, sanctions have a deterrent effect, but really no one believes they're the long-term answer. That lies in ... better education, better awareness. It does lie also, I have to say, in cultural change."
Former France defender Lilian Thuram, who won the 1998 World Cup and 2000 European Championship before retiring last year at the age of 36, told The Associated Press that sanctions should still play a part in combatting racism.
"Sanctions are part of the battle because they create a degree of fear so that clubs maybe will take control what goes on in their clubs. Sometimes the clubs say, 'Look, we can't do anything, we don't control our fans,'" Thuram said. "But of course they can control them, of course they can do something to educate them. So it's very important that there be sanctions, but it's not going to settle the issue.
"I think players have a key role in the fight against racism because what they say, how they act, I think they can advance things. If there is an incident and all the players decide to stop playing, I think that would be a very, very powerful signal."