Ruud Gullit opposes UEFA president Michel Platini’s insistence that Euro 2012 players should be given a yellow card if they walk off the pitch in protest at racist abuse.
The Netherlands great joined other black former players on Friday to launch a UEFA-backed “Respect Diversity” campaign to run throughout the tournament.
“I don’t agree so much about the yellow and red cards,” said Gullit, who captained the Dutch team to victory at Euro 1988.
Gullit added that overall he backed UEFA’s efforts to tackle the issue of racism, which has dominated the final days leading to Friday’s kickoff.
Former Tottenham forward Garth Crooks called on Platini to relax his stance on strictly upholding the laws of soccer, which demand sanctioning players who leave the pitch.
Soccer “must find a better way” to deal with the problem, said Crooks, a pundit for the BBC, whose recent documentary on racism in the host countries fueled the debate.
“To book a player because he feels psychologically that he cannot continue for whatever reason — it’s not an excuse to caution him,” he said.
Gullit and Crooks spoke alongside Nigerian-born former Poland striker Emmanuel Olisadebe and former England Under-21 international Paul Elliott.
UEFA secretary-general Gianni Infantino outlined a three-step process that UEFA has asked match referees to follow in the event of racial abuse in the eight Euro 2012 stadiums.
First, a warning would be broadcast to fans over the stadium loudspeakers; for a second offense, the referee would halt the match and take the teams off the pitch; for a third incident after the game resumed, the referee would abandon the match.
Stewards and stadium security officials monitoring closed-circuit cameras would also seek to remove fans thought responsible.
Badminton world No. 3 Anders Antonsen clinched his first Indonesia Open title yesterday after beating Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen, while South Korea’s An Se-young won her second championship in Jakarta. The 28-year-old Dane sank world No. 7 Chou at the Indonesian capital’s Istora Senayan arena, winning 22-20, 21-14 in a 60-minute match to secure the prestigious Super 1000 event. Antonsen came out on top in a tightly contested first game before cruising to victory in the second. In a more closely fought women’s singles final, South Korean ace and world No. 1 An fought back from one game down to beat China’s
Spain starlets Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams dazzled on Thursday as La Roja beat France 5-4 in a thriller in Stuttgart, Germany, to set up a UEFA Nations League final with Portugal. Yamal bagged a brace, while Williams scored and provided an assist as the two wingers cut France’s makeshift defense to ribbons. Mikel Merino and Pedri were also on the score sheet for the UEFA Euro 2024 champions. Kylian Mbappe netted a second-half penalty, but Spain were 5-1 up and cruising, before Les Bleus suddenly woke up as their opponents took their foot off the pedal. France’s three late goals — a
Italy crashed to a 3-0 loss away to Norway, as the four-time FIFA World Cup champions made a disastrous start to their 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign on Friday, while Belgium had to settle for a draw in North Macedonia. Alexander Sorloth, Antonio Nusa and Erling Haaland all scored in the first half in pouring rain in Oslo as Norway made it a night to forget for Italy, who missed out on the past two World Cups. “I have no explanation. Our supporters don’t deserve this kind of match. We need to do some soul-searching. It’s unacceptable,” Italy captain and goalkeeper Gianluigi
The Crusaders yesterday produced a clinical performance in difficult conditions to beat the Queensland Reds 32-12 and claim home advantage in next week’s Super Rugby semi-finals. Lock Scott Barrett and prop Tamaiti Williams scored first-half tries to reward an outstanding performance from the Crusaders’ forwards in wet, slippery conditions and bitterly cold temperatures. Scrumhalf Noah Hotham defied the conditions in the second half to score a superb solo try and, after kicking a conversion and penalty to make the score 22-0 at the hour mark, flyhalf Rivez Reihana scored a try which took the game beyond the Reds. “Typical Christchurch weather, cold, wet
RSS