FA chairman David Bernstein to be part of Fifa's new racism taskforce

Football Association chairman David Bernstein will be part of Fifa's new anti-racism taskforce.

Established by football's governing body, the group will help combat racism and discrimination in the game.

English referee Howard Webb and AC Milan midfielder Kevin-Prince Boateng will also be members.

The taskforce will meet for the first time on 6 May and present its initial findings at Fifa's annual congress on 30-31 May.

In March, Fifa announced the formation of the taskforce and said Jeffrey Webb, the president of Concacaf, the confederation for North and Central America along with the Caribbean, would be its chairman.

Bernstein, who will step down as FA chairman in July, will be joined by Theo Van Seggelen, the head of global players' union FIFPro, and Jozy Altidore, the AZ Alkmaar striker and United States international who was racially abused during a game against Den Bosch.

Italian journalist Gianni Merlo, Marcel Mathier, chairman of Fifa's disciplinary committee Marcel Mathier, and Claudio Sulser, former chairman of Fifa's ethics committee, are also involved.

Football journalist and lawyer Osasu Obayiuwana, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay and Piara Powar, head of European anti-racism body Fare, complete the taskforce.

Fifa president Sepp Blatter said there needed to be stronger sanctions to tackle racism, despite previous misgivings about possible relegation or points deductions for those who offended.

"We have seen that fines achieve little, but point deductions and exclusion from competitions could be more effective measures," he said.

European governing body Uefa has already announced it will clamp down on racist behaviour by players by introducing a minimum 10-game ban for anyone found guilty.

Uefa general secretary Gianni Infantino also revealed clubs could be forced to close part or all of their stadiums if fans racially abuse players.

~ BBC Sports
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