Neil Warnock calls for "severe" punishments for racist abuse

| 29 March 2019

Montenegro is facing disciplinary proceedings from UEFA, including a charge of racist behaviour.

Cardiff manager Neil Warnock would take his team off the pitch if his players were subjected to racist abuse and nothing was done about it.

England players Danny Rose and Callum Hudson-Odoi had racist chants directed at them during the 5-1 Euro 2020 qualifying victory over Montenegro on Monday night.

Chelsea, meanwhile, lodged a complaint with UEFA regarding alleged racist abuse towards winger Hudson-Odoi during their 5-0 Europa League win over Dynamo Kiev in the Ukrainian capital on March 14.

View this post on Instagram

Best way to silence the haters (yeah I mean racists) 🙉😘 #2019 #getsomeeducation

A post shared by Raheem Sterling x 😇 (@sterling7) on Mar 25, 2019 at 3:21pm PDT

The Football Association described the incidents in Podgorica as "abhorrent" and governing body UEFA subsequently opened disciplinary proceedings against Montenegro, including a charge of racist behaviour.

There have been calls for the punishments to be harsh, while England manager Gareth Southgate has also underlined the need for education to try to tackle the issues head-on.

Bluebirds boss Warnock would have no hesitation in taking direct action over any such behaviour towards his players from the stands.

Disgraceful to hear racist chants directed at black @England players this evening.

As we've argued countless times, it's time for @UEFA to take strong, decisive action – fines won't do.

Extended stadium bans or tournament expulsion are what's needed. pic.twitter.com/4k3EWhQOyg

— Kick It Out (@kickitout) March 25, 2019

"It's got to be more severe than a fine or a slap on the wrist," Warnock said about possible sanctions.

"A manager has got to take a team off or ban a team from the tournament, probably immediately, as well if that's the case.

"The deterrent has got to be far worse than it is. I would take a team off if that's what happened, the referee was informed and didn't do anything about it."

ga('create', 'UA-72310761-1', 'auto', {'name': 'pacontentapi'});
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'referrer', location.origin);
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension1', 'By Press Association Sport staff');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension2', '9a6bb38c-77f2-4493-a9fc-a17d57bff554');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension3', 'paservice:sport,paservice:sport:football,paservice:sport:uk');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension6', 'story');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension7', 'composite');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension8', null);
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension9', 'sport:football');
ga('pacontentapi.send', 'pageview', { 'location': location.href, 'page': (location.pathname + location.search + location.hash), 'title': 'Warnock: I\u2019d take team off if racism complaints were ignored'});