” ” ” “With a resolution adopted by the wide majority, the Strasbourg Parliament "condemns all forms of racism" in football. The document has taken its cue from the accidents that have repeatedly occurred across Europe and means to be a message in the run-up to the World Football Championship of next summer in Germany. The condemnation concerns "all forms of racism during matches, both inside and outside the stadiums". "It is not football it reads that is the cause of racism, but it is in our stadiums and in our football pitches that the most outspoken and violent abuse takes place". The EU MPs praise "the work that several organisations, including Uefa and Fare (Football Against Racism in Europe), have carried out against these problems", while they urge all the people involved in football (fans, referees, clubs, federations, players’ unions) "to speak up regularly against racism". Parliament asks that "referees be given the power to stop matches in the event of serious racist abuse" and ask for "sports fines" to be inflicted to involved clubs. The black player Paul Elliot (Chelsea, Celtic and Bari) was in Strasbourg yesterday to testify that "he was the victim of racist abuse on the pitch": "I hope this won’t happen again in future he added and that discrimination in sport will disappear". ” “
