Scottish Football Clubs Overwhelmingly Reject Tougher Rules To Combat Racism

Scottish football clubs on Tuesday night "voted against implementing stricter regulations that would combat racism and sectarianism," according to Tom Farmery of the LONDON TIMES. Ahead of the vote, the Scottish FA "had been confident that members would follow the strict stance on racism" demonstrated by FIFA and UEFA last month. But only 5% of the association’s 93 member clubs "backed the motion" at the annual meeting at Hampden, expressing fears "that they could be held accountable for unruly fans." Rather than a “zero tolerance” attitude, it was decided that "there would be no introduction of automatic sanctions." SFA President Campbell Ogilvie said the result was “disappointing,” adding that there will be a “consultation on a more robust set of disciplinary measures,” An SFA statement said, "Nonetheless, the members did agree in principle to continued engagement on the topic and to devise an action plan to establish a viable deterrent to such behaviour" (LONDON TIMES, 6/12).