TO THE amazement of the FA, and no doubt the relief of their Spanish counterparts, Fifa yesterday levied a fine of less than £50,000 for the racist abuse during the international friendly between Spain and England in Madrid last month. The Spanish authorities have been reluctant to face up to the problem of racism in their football and the hopelessly lenient punishment will hardly act as a wake-up call.

The fine of 100,000 Swiss francs (£44,750) for the Spanish Federation also undermined the recent condemnations of racism from Sepp Blatter, the Fifa president, who had said that the issue was the biggest problem facing the game. Although Blatter was not a member of the disciplinary committee that sat in judgment yesterday, he will have to explain why a fine that will make no impact, financially or otherwise, on the Spanish Federation was deemed sufficient.

Fifa, though, did warn the Spanish authorities about their future conduct and emphasised that they faced the prospect of having to play matches behind closed doors or possible expulsion from one or more Fifa-sanctioned competitions if the scenes were repeated. One committee member had argued for a penalty of two matches played behind closed doors to be administered immediately.

David Dein, the vice-chairman of Arsenal and a member of the FA board, had said in the aftermath of the game at the Bernabéu that he expected a ground closure or at least a suspended sentence.

The FA was reluctant to condemn world football’s governing body for its soft sanctions yesterday. In a statement it said: “The FA must accept Fifa’s decision. Racism is the scourge of the game and it is the responsibility of all who care for football to do everything to eradicate it.”

Fifa failed in their duty. The abuse aimed at Shaun Wright- Phillips, Ashley Cole and other black England players during the 1-0 defeat was not an isolated incident in Spain, but it was by far the worst in memory. That was partly a reaction to England’s T-shirt protest on the eve of the match. The players wore “Kick It Out” vests in training to draw attention to Luis Aragonés, the Spain coach, who had called Thierry Henry “a black s***”. Aragonés is still waiting to discover if he will face any punishment.

The penalty, which will be condemned by anti-racism campaigners, fits a pattern of paltry fines. Real Madrid were recently forced to pay less than £10,000 for racist chanting at one of their matches.

Real yesterday named Arrigo Sacchi, who led Italy to the 1994 World Cup final, as the club’s director of football, although reports said his role would be a technical one, with Mariano García Remón, the coach, continuing to select the team. Marca, the Spanish sports paper, said that Sacchi would try to persuade Carlo Ancelotti, the Milan head coach, to join Real next season.

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