Wednesday 10 April 2013 21:47, UK
UEFA is set to introduce tough sanctions to tackle racism in football, including a minimum 10-match ban for players or officials found guilty of abuse.
UEFA have been criticised by some for not taking a firm enough stance over racism in the past but Infantino has defended the governing body, citing the two-game supporter ban given to Lazio as an example of it cracking down on the issue. He said: "I think that if there is an association who cannot be criticised for not having done enough on racism it's probably UEFA. "In the last 10 years we've had over 120 cases. Our bodies then apply the sanctions in accordance with the regulations that they have. Per year we have over 1,000 disciplinary cases in general and racism has been treated very, very seriously from the outset. "Just recently a club of Rome, Lazio, was punished with a two-match suspension. In the Europa League quarter-finals, two very important matches will be played without spectators. It's not really what I call taking it easy and I think our disciplinary board deserve to be respected for the decisions that they take."
