The English Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) issued a six-point action plan to help deal with racism on Wednesday following a series of high profile developments in the fallout from the John Terry-Anton Ferdinand case.
The PFA has been criticised for not doing enough to tackle the problem, but responded by saying the time was right for tougher penalties.
The plan comes a day after David Bernstein, the chairman of the Football Association, said the FA’s sanctions for racial abuse were being reviewed.
The response from the FA and the PFA comes after Reading striker Jason Roberts, a member of the PFA’s management committee, expressed frustration that the problem of racism was not being dealt with properly by the sport’s authorities.
Roberts was the catalyst behind the move to boycott the wearing of anti-racism warm-up T-shirts during the Kick It Out organisation’s annual anti-racism weekend last Saturday and Sunday.
Rio Ferdinand and brother Anton were part of the boycott and issued a joint statement on Wednesday which said: “Times change and organisations need to change with them. We are more than happy to join the discussion, privately, to make Kick It Out more relevant in its fight to stamp out racism in football.”