Prince William praised by ex-QPR boss Chris Ramsey for tackling racism in football
Tuesday 5 November 2019 23:06, UK
The Duke of Cambridge's recent criticism of racism in football is needed to help tackle the issue, says former QPR head coach Chris Ramsey.
The 57-year-old Englishman praised the duke's comments after Prince William presented him with an MBE for services to football and diversity in sport during a Buckingham Palace investiture ceremony.
Ramsey, who is now QPR's head of coaching, said: "It's good to see there are people with a high profile talking it up now, which will mean people will listen.
"If someone at his level can see it, it's important everyone follows suit and it takes someone of that level to say what he said to move things forward."
In recent months there have been a number of incidents where players, from club to international level, have suffered racist abuse.
England players were targeted during their European Qualifier against Bulgaria in the country's capital Sofia in October, while Paul Pogba, Marcus Rashford and Tammy Abraham have also been subjected to racist abuse on social media.
Speaking about the abuse directed at players Prince William, who is president of the Football Association, said in September: "We've got to do something about it. I'm fed up with it. I'm so bored of it."
Bulgaria were ordered to play two matches behind closed doors - one suspended for two years - by UEFA last month, with the ruling met by widespread criticism.
"Look at the sanctions that have been given, the sanctions are nowhere near what they should be in order to make change," Ramsey said.
Speaking about work to tackle racism, he added: "I think the work we're doing we've only scratched the surface, and I think people are working hard to highlight the problem, but obviously I think there has to be some level of radical action, because we've tried evolving through it and it hasn't worked as quickly as we'd have liked it to."
