About two months ago, world football governing body, FIFA, announced that it was investigating racist abuse directed at French players by fans of Russia during a pre-World Cup friendly between the two countries.
A photographer for news site Reuters claimed that he heard monkey chants directed at French players on several occasions, including player N’Golo Kante when he came to the sideline for a throw-in.
The unfortunate incident reiterated calls for the fight against racism in football. With few days to the World Cup, FIFA has for the first time given referees protocol for such racist chants.
The body says officials will follow a three-step process to stop, suspend or abandon games if they are given hint of racist chants at matches.
Every match will also have three anti-discrimination observers in the stands, monitoring the behaviour of fans.
As fans and analysts wait to see how effective this system would be after being trialled during World Cup qualifying rounds and the Confederations Cup, here are some racist chants that should never have a place at this year’s biggest sporting event.
