ZURICH: Sepp Blatter has reiterated the need for tough punishment on any individuals, teams, fans or organisations guilty of any form of racism.

In line with his prevous statements this year, the FIFA president told the Early Warning System Congress in Zurich that fines achieved little but points deductions and exclusion from competitions would be effective measures.

He also stressed that efforts for prevention and education should go hand in hand with punishment.

Blatter acknowledged  that the implementation of these sanctions might pose some challenges, such as a risk of abuse by fans to manipulate an unfair advantage for their team.

However he insisted that such dangers would be examined carefully and would in no way alter his strong commitment towards “the eradication of the racism scourge from football” and his insistance on zero tolerance towards any form of racism.

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