Corbyn: Don't stand for racial abuse, walk off

The popular Labour leader is worried that events on the pitch in Russia will be overshadowed by abuse from the terraces. He is hopeful that FIFA would take appropriate action against anyone found to be guilty, after Sulley Muntari was booked for walking off the pitch after suffering abuse in a Serie A match last year.

“I would support any player walking off as a way of saying: ‘I’m not prepared to tolerate this abuse,’” said Corbyn. “I am concerned the World Cup will be overshadowed by racism but let’s be optimistic. The World Cup is biggest sporting event outside the Olympics."

"What a message for Russia and the whole world if they decide at the very beginning to adopt an absolute zero tolerance of racism in any form. Referees must be prepared to intervene immediately, send people off, take people out of the stadium and ultimately stop the match," he continued. "If that’s done at the start it will set the tone and be a great way to stand up to racism globally.”

Corbyn is a lifelong Arsenal fan, but has also asked for Tottenham fans to stop singing their 'Yid Army' chant. 'Yid' is a word with anti-Semitic connotations that used to be sung against Tottenham fans because of their Jewish fan base. In recent history Tottenham fans have adopted the chant as a way to neutralise the word and unify their fans. 

“The idea of adopting a term to neutralise it doesn’t really work because it is identifying a club by an ethnic group or faith," the Labour leader said.