FIFA watching after Weston McKennie targeted by racist comments in Italy

Italian football club Juventus banned three fans from rival club Parma on Friday for shouting racist comments at U.S. national team star Weston McKinney after a league match between the teams in August

McKinney, a Texas native who is black, has played for Juventus in the Italian Serie A league since 2020, and he has heard racist comments from fans several times before during his professional career overseas

Club officials said they used a state-of-the-art surveillance system with multifocal cameras

to help law enforcement identify the three visiting supporters who heckled McKinney as he cooled down after the match

The incident and the technology used to catch the perpetrators raises questions about how FIFA will combat racist language

gestures or chants during the 2026 World Cup in the U.S., Canada and Mexico next summer

After the first few opening matches of the Club World Cup in June, a lack of anti-racism signage led to criticism from fans

FIFA responded by playing a message on video boards before subsequent games

Rise up and play your part. Zeit, farbe zu bekennen. Faça sua voz, Seuro Vida

Puro futebol, seh racismo. Yet the issue persists at soccer matches around the world FIFA fined six countries on September 3rd including defending world champion Argentina for racist abuse by fans at World Cup qualifiers in June

The six countries officials said engaged in discrimination and racist abuse were Albania, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Serbia, and Bosnia-Herzegovina

according to the FIFA Disciplinary Committee. It did not provide details on the cases

FIFA President Gianni Infantino urged politicians and law enforcement professionals around the world

to join the fight against racism and discrimination. In a message to the Red Card to Racism in Football event in May

he said criminal penalties should be imposed on offenders. FIFA's global stand against racism called for the football world to take action

to educate, to raise awareness, and, when necessary, to punish. Racism, discrimination

they are not just wrong, they are crimes. As for the incident in Italy, Juventus referred to their

fan code of conduct in deciding the punishment for the Parma fans. The club has previously dealt

with similar incidents by visiting supporters following games in 2023 and 2024. For Straight