The Premier League is set to introduce enhanced anti-discrimination measures in a bid to rid the game and society of discrimination of any form.
Richard Masters said: “The commitment from all clubs to enforce league-wide bans demonstrates there is no place for discrimination of any kind in football and we will continue to work together to fight all forms of prejudice. Football is a diverse sport, which brings together communities from all backgrounds. We call on fans to come together with us and our clubs to help tackle discrimination by challenging and reporting abuse wherever they see it.
Richard Masters added: “Tackling online abuse is a priority for football and the Premier League continues to work with its clubs and partners across the game to challenge social media companies and authorities to take greater preventative measures to stop this abuse occurring. As part of this work, the Premier League is working with social media platforms to improve existing tools and develop processes to tackle abuse. These will be implemented from the start of the season. Although progress is being made, there is still much more to be done and the Premier League will continue to work with Government to ensure that its Online Safety Bill introduces clear requirements for social media platforms to end discriminatory abuse being carried on their services.”
The new diktat will be introduced immediately and Premier League clubs have agreed to enforce league-wide punishments, including stadium bans for any individual to have been found to have behaved in a discriminatory or abusive way towards any club employee, player, match official, matchday steward or supporters attending a Premier League match. Currently, a fan could be banned from attending one stadium but free to enter the remaining 19 Premier League grounds, this will no longer be the case with the league agreeing universal measures as they up their fight against discrimination. Premier League Chief Executive Richard Masters called on fans to support the initiative and to report abuse whenever they see it
