Yaya Toure has been an advocate for cracking down on racism in the past.
Manchester City’s Yaya Toure in action
Manchester City midfielder Yaya Toure has slammed FIFA on his website for their decision to disband its anti-racism task force.
The FIFA Task Force Against Racism and Discrimination had been formed in 2013 and was scrapped on Sunday, with the world’s football governing body claiming that it had achieved what it had set out to.
The former African Footballer of the Year, who was a consultant for the task force, has said the decision to scrap the task force when it was achieving its mandate ‘makes no sense’.
Manchester City’s Yaya Toure in action with Steaua Bucharest’s Ovidiu Popescu
In a statement on his personal website, he said “When I received the letter telling me the FIFA task force was to be discontinued I was very disappointed. The letter listed the good work that had been carried out as a result of the task force’s advice and recommendations.
“So my question is, after failing to deal with racism sufficiently for decades – why stop when something is beginning to work? Are FIFA being complacent ahead of a World Cup in Russia? This makes no sense.”
Toure has often been vocal in his condemnation of racism, most notably when he was subjected to tirades of abuse from CSKA Moscow fans during a Champions League tie in October 2013. He went on to claim that ‘monkey chants break you’ in May 2015, and even suggested that black players might boycott the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
In his letter, the former Barcelona midfielder went on to outline what roles the task force should be taking in its bid to tackle racism.
Manchester City’s Yaya Toure in action with Steaua Bucharest’s Ovidiu Popescu
“As a group, the task force could help shape and put in place the most effective initiatives to keep players and fans safe. The task force could question when FIFA were not delivering on its’ promise to do as much as they could in this area.”
“My only hope is that FIFA have thought this through. The letter I received does not fill me with confidence. It will be the fans and the players that suffer if FIFA does not get this right.”
The Ivorian is currently on the periphery of the Manchester City squad following a dispute between boss Pep Guardiola and his agent Dimitri Seluk.
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola
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