Bowles tackles racism in football

10.31.39am UTC (GMT +0000) Sat 24th Dec 2005

Hampshire MEP Sharon Bowles has launched a campaign to help bring racism in football to an end.

Sharon is supporting a written declaration in the European Parliament that calls for real action to tackle the problem of racism, both on and off the pitch.

Sharon said "We saw recently that players want an end to the unacceptable racism that sadly exists in football, with players wearing anti-racism bracelets. Now it is time for Parliamentarians to back them up with some solid plans for how we crack this problem."

The written declaration calls for a number of measures including giving referees the power to stop or abandon matches where there are racist incidents, and asks UEFA to consider sporting sanctions for clubs whose players or supporters commit serious racist offences.

Now Sharon wants to ensure the declaration becomes the best supported in the Parliament's history. She said "I am working with colleagues from different nationalities try and get more signatures backing this motion than the Parliament has ever seen."

"This problem affects every single European county and it is high time action is taken. We owe it to the players, the clubs and the fans to show that racism in football will not be tolerated."