Ruud Gullit: UEFA giving "wrong message"

By Pascal Lemesre, Football League Editor | 09 June 2012

Ruud Gullit thinks that UEFA has given the "wrong message" to players who are targeted with racist abuse at the European Championships.

Ruud Gullit has said that UEFA has given the "wrong message" to players who are targeted with racist abuse at the European Championships.

European football's governing body said that players should not take the matter into their own hands and leave it to the officials to decide if the game should be postponed because of abuse from the stands.

Former Dutch international Gullit feels that players should not have to wait for the referee to make a decision if they feel they are being targeted.

"UEFA have given referees the power to stop a game and I am behind that," Gullit told the Daily Mail. "The problem needs to be tackled straight away, so players shouldn't just keep quiet and play on like in my day.

"It has been suggested by the UEFA president Michel Platini that players would be booked for leaving the field as an act of retaliation and defiance. That, in my opinion, is the wrong message.

"If a player is racially insulted, he should have the right to leave the field. I would like to think we can trust referees to take everyone off but, if the officials are not supporting the players correctly, then the individual should act. The message this would send out: 'we will not tolerate this abuse'."

Gullit's nation Holland begin their Euro 2012 campaign in the first game of day two against Denmark at 5pm later today.