No racists at the World Cup stadiums! Offenders to be expelled!

No racists at the World Cup stadiums! Offenders to be expelled!

FIFA, as well as other soccer bodies around the world, have made cracking down on racism in the sport one of their current focal points, and those efforts are also being emphasized at the World Cup.

Banners or flags with racist content will be confiscated from fans before entering stadiums and fans identified as making racist chants or acts will expelled from stadiums and banned from attending any more World Cup matches, German soccer federation security official Hans Florin said Friday.

Despite its efforts to increase penalties for racist behavior, FIFA said it had to respect local laws when deciding on sanctions, the AP reports.

Leiblang said FIFA had regulations allowing referees to punish any racist behavior by players on the field.