Chimbonda suggests relegation or season-long stadium bans for racism

Former Tottenham and Wigan Athletic defender Pascal Chimbonda has suggested that clubs should be relegated or be forced to play all their home matches without fans for a season if their supporters racially abuse players.

The 40-year-old spoke on the BBC World Service about his experiences in France and said that the racial abuse he received there was the underlying reason for his move to England in 2005.

“No one does anything about it. I wanted to run off the pitch.”

The 40-year-old had some strong suggestions for punishments should a section of fans hurl racial abuse at players.

“If the fans don’t behave, big teams, small teams – they have to be relegated or play a full season with no fans.

“You play a full season with no fans and they will start to think about it. Fans will think about how they have to behave when they come to a stadium.”

In recent weeks England internationals Danny Rose, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Rhaeem Sterling have all been abused and in Italy Moise Kean was racially abused by a section of Cagliari fans.

Rose recently stated he “can’t wait to see the back of football” in the wake of several high-profile incidents and the lack of action taken by the governing bodies.

Chimbonda also feels the frustrations at the lack of action from those in charge.

“This has been happening for so many years and you see nothing ever happens.

“They [governing bodies]have an advert, they fight against racists but it never stops. So they have to do big things now and show they really want to stop it.”