FIFA President Unhappy With Paltry Roma Fine For Racism

FIFA president Sepp Blatter is unhappy with the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) for the handling of the racist episode that marred the Serie A match between Milan and Roma on Sunday.

The game at San Siro had to be stopped for two minutes after the visiting Roma fans directed racist chants towards Milan’s black players.

The FIGC slapped the capital city club with a €50,000 ($65,000) fine but Blatter feels the punishment was much too lenient

“What is most surprising and not understandable is that the disciplinary committee of the Italian Football Federation has taken a decision, not even 24 hours after the event, by just imposing a fine,” he said.

“You will always find money. What is €50,000 for such an incident? I’m not happy and will call the Italian Federation. That’s not a way to deal with such matters.”

This is not the first high-profile case of racism in Italian soccer this year as Milan’s Kevin-Prince Boateng led his teammates off the field during a friendly against Pro Patria in January after being racially abused.

Boateng went on to address the United Nations as part of the International Day for Eliminating Racism in March.

This was the first time this season that a Serie A match was stopped until the chanting subsided but Blatter was steaming at the way the situation was handled.

“Lessons have not been learned,” he stated. “It’s incredible that we still have such incidents, especially in the Italian Serie A in the San Siro between Roma and Milan, a very important match.

“They have not made any investigation of what happened,” he said. “Just to give a pecuniary sanction in not valid, not acceptable.”

FIFA president Sepp Blatter hopes that his unhappiness with Roma’s punishment will ensure that more harsh penalties for racism are handed down going forward.