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Raheem Sterling of Manchester City and England.

Sterling proposes nine-point deductions for clubs whose fans are guilty of racism

‘I don’t want the next generation of black players to have to put up with this evil,’ said the Manchester City star.

RAHEEM STERLING HAS suggested that clubs whose fans are involved in racist abuse of players should suffer an automatic nine-point deduction.

The Manchester City winger, nominated for PFA Player and Young Player of the Year, has been at the forefront of the battle against the recent rise in incidents of racial abuse throughout football.

While he has said he is against players walking off the pitch, the 24-year-old has outlined what he believes governing bodies should do to curb racism in the game.

“It sounds harsh, but which fan will risk racist behaviour if it might relegate their team or ruin their title bid,” the England international wrote in The Times.

“Small fines do no damage to clubs and countries, but one group of people who do have the money to make them take notice are sponsors. The next time that a club or governing body fails to act appropriately against racism, I would love to see that company pull its money out and make a moral stand.

“I don’t know how long it will take for things to change but we have to start now. I don’t want the next generation of black players to have to put up with this evil.”

Sterling also expressed his surprise at suffering racial abuse and what he perceived as the failures of the sport’s governing bodies to address the problem of racism “across the world”.

He added: “When I was a boy growing up in London, going to school and playing football, I didn’t know what racist abuse was because I never suffered any.

“So it seems crazy that, in 2019, I feel the need to write a piece in a newspaper calling for radical changes to the game that I love. But I do because the racism problem of football is so bad, runs so deep and is nowhere near being sorted.

“You will all have read about the various high-profile racist incidents in recent months: the abuse I received playing for Manchester City away to Chelsea; the booing that the black England players were subjected to in Montenegro; the nastiness that Moise Kean of Juventus endured in Italy and the endless insults thrown at players on social media.

“But that is sadly just the tip of the iceberg. Up and down the game, across the world, black and Asian players, fans and coaches are subjected to racism. Every day, from park football to the Champions League.

“In my opinion, the people who run the game are doing nowhere near enough to solve the problem. And that’s not good enough.”

Sterling and England team-mate Danny Rose were subjected to alleged racist abuse by Montenegro fans during an international fixture in March, while there have been several other cases in top-level football in Europe during the 2018-19 campaign.

The City star and a number of other Premier League footballers also took part in the ’#Enough’ campaign that saw them cease activity on their social media accounts for 24 hours in an attempt to make a stand against racist abuse.

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    Mute Chris Mcdonnell
    Favourite Chris Mcdonnell
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    May 18th 2015, 2:32 PM

    Even when on the bench he didn’t get game time. The coach doesn’t like or trust him. Saturday once again showed just how wrong O’connor has been all season

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    Mute Colin Webber
    Favourite Colin Webber
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    May 18th 2015, 6:24 PM

    O’Connor is just all wrong for Leinster.

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    Mute Mark Lawlor
    Favourite Mark Lawlor
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    May 18th 2015, 2:31 PM

    He has a very big chance next season with Leinster during the World Cup, midfield won’t be as competitive so he should get a good run of matches.

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    Mute Chris Mcdonnell
    Favourite Chris Mcdonnell
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    May 18th 2015, 6:56 PM

    Mark if Darcy doesn’t make the World Cup squad, he’ll play 12 with t’eo at 13. Then Madigan and sexton will be back so the midfield won’t be as easy to get into as you may think

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    Mute David Davidson
    Favourite David Davidson
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    May 18th 2015, 4:27 PM

    That pop pass from O’Brien

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    Mute Irish Underage Rugby
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    May 18th 2015, 2:54 PM

    Battle between him and Madigan for the 12 jersey next season.

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    Mute Cian Walker
    Favourite Cian Walker
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    May 19th 2015, 4:02 AM

    It’s always to easy to see who coaches ‘just like/don’t like’. When Gopperth played badly it was ignored whereas when Madigan played mediocre or even if Reid played well decisions went against them.

    It creates such a poisonous culture as some players start to feel entitled to spots and others feel it doesn’t matter how well they play they won’t get picked. Cody and Fergusson were masters at disregarding players identities and judging on match performance alone. MOC is such a stink manager.

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