European soccer governing body UEFA are planning to introduce tough new sanctions to combat racism with players found guilty of racist offences banned for a minimum of 10 matches, UEFA general secretary Gianni Infantino said on Wednesday (April 10).

"We have to have sanctions and the sanctions must have a deterring effect, and concretely what we are proposing is that if a player or an official is convicted of a racism offence then he has to be suspended for 10 matches, and if supporters of a club are found guilty of racism abuse, then the first sanction will not be a fine any more, the first sanction will be a partial closure of the stadium, which means the part of the stadium where the racist abuse has taken place will be closed. At the second offence there will be a full closure of a stadium and then a fine of minimum 50,000 euros at the second offence."