FIFA to announce ‘racism’ match observers

FIFA is to announce a new system of match observers to monitor incidents of racism and discrimination at World Cup qualifiers in the build up to the 2018 tournament in Russia.

Yaya Toure, who suffered racist abuse while playing in the Champions League, will be present at the launch. Picture: Getty

Manchester City midfielder Yaya Toure, who suffered racist abuse while playing against CSKA Moscow in the Champions League, will be present at the launch at Wembley Stadium on Tuesday.

The observers will be trained to spot incidents of discrimination and report them to FIFA, which can then impose disciplinary sanctions on the countries involved.

Host country Russia has said it will tackle racism in its football - some 200 racist incidents were committed by Russian fans between 2012 and 2014 according to a recent report by the Sova Center, a Moscow-based racism-monitoring group.

FIFA president Sepp Blatter has said “a lot of work needs to be done” to combat the incidents.

The project follows recommendations of the FIFA anti-discrimination task force and is being implemented in collaboration with the European anti-discrimination body FARE.

Former World Cup referee Howard Webb and FARE’s executive director Piara Powar, who are both members of the FIFA task force, will also be present at the launch.