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By Brian Homewood
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BERN (Reuters) – UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin on Wednesday praised footballers for taking a political stance and said the European soccer governing body\\\’s own attempts to tackle racism in the game were “not enough.”
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Ceferin singled out Manchester City\\\’s England forward Raheem Sterling, Real Madrid\\\’s Brazilian full back Marcelo and Bayern Munich\\\’s German defender Jerome Boateng for speaking out on racism.
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“I am proud of the fact that footballers are leading some of today\\\’s most important international debates,” Ceferin told a video news conference after a UEFA meeting.
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“Football really can be an important vehicle for good and these examples demonstrate that.”
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He also praised Manchester United\\\’s Marcus Rashford after the England forward\\\’s successful campaign for school food vouchers to be provided over the summer holidays in Britain.
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After originally saying school food vouchers would not be available over the long summer holiday, British ministers bowed to pressure after 22-year-old Rashford took up the cause and revealed how he had relied on such support as a boy.
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“We know the power of football is huge so we should use that for good messages,” said Ceferin, who also reflected on UEFA\\\’s attempts to tackle racism.
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“Probably those campaigns we had were not enough, we tried hard but I think we should go to the next level,” he said. “We know the situation is serious and it gets more serious every day.”
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(Reporting by Brian Homewood; Editing by Ken Ferris)
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