- The Professional Footballers" Association chief executive, Gordon Taylor, has announced a six-point plan to deal with racism in football.
Among the points, the players" union wants tougher penalties for racist abuse - including making it a potentially sackable offence.
There are reports that the plans for a black player"s union are still underway, with several players keen on distancing themselves from the traditional authorities of the PFA and FA due to their disillusionment with how racism has been handled in recent times.
There"s also a desire to look into a form of the NFL"s "Rooney rule" to boost the number of black coaches and managers.
That would require teams to interview minority candidates for head coach roles. So far, however, all reports have suggested that the Premier League and FA are opposed to the imposing of a "Rooney Rule" on English football.
The 6 points
1 Speeding up the process of dealing with reported racist abuse with close monitoring of any incidents.
2 Consideration of stiffer penalties for racist abuse and to include an equality awareness programme for culprits and clubs involved.
3 An English form of the "Rooney rule" - introduced by the NFL in America in 2003 - to make sure qualified black coaches are on interview lists for job vacancies.
4 The proportion of black coaches and managers to be monitored and any inequality or progress highlighted.
5 Racial abuse to be considered gross misconduct in player and coach contracts (and therefore potentially a sackable offence).
6 To not to lose sight of other equality issues such as gender, sexual orientation, disability, anti-Semitism, Islamophobia and Asians in football.
