FIFA establishes crossed arm gesture to fight racism during football matches

Srinagar, Sep 04: The International Federation of Association Football (FIFA), the governing body for global Football has introduced a new gesture that it said would fight racism during the games.

The new "crossed arms" gesture, FIFA said was approved unanimously in May this year.

"Following its unanimous approval at the 74th FIFA Congress in Bangkok, Thailand, on 17 May 2024, a global crossed arms gesture to signal racist abuse will become part of football protocol when implemented at the FIFA Under-20 Women’s World Cup Colombia 2024," FIFA said in a statement.

The new gesture, FIFA said would empower football players, and other officials including referees and team officials, TRT World reported.

"It would be implemented as part of the existing three-step procedure at the tournament that is set to begin on Saturday," FIFA said.

"By crossing their hands at the wrists, players will be able to signal directly to the referee that they are being targeted by racist abuse, prompting the referee to start the three-step procedure. With the first step, the match will be stopped. If the abuse continues, the match will be suspended, with the players and match officials exiting the field of play. In the event the incident does not cease, in the third step, the match will be abandoned," FIFA added.

Within the scope of its zero-tolerance policy against discrimination, FIFA said that its “No Racism” gesture will be applied at all FIFA competitions.

"Fighting racism is something we all need to stand up and do together," FIFA President Gianni Infantino said.

"Implementing the ‘No Racism’ gesture at the FIFA Under-20 Women’s World Cup 2024 in Colombia is a key first step to empowering players throughout the world. Now enshrined in the three-step procedure, we look forward to seeing this rolled out all over the world to maximum effect," Infantino said, adding that all 211 FIFA members unanimously supported it at the FIFA Congress.