Manchester City striker Raheem Sterling has called for clubs, where racist chanting has been found to occur, to be slapped with a nine point deduction.

There have been several incidents of racial abuse at football matches this season, both in England and abroad, and while Sterling and a number of fellow professionals have signed a manifesto which includes ideas for tackling abuse in sport, he wants more to be done.

"It needs to be, at first, within football because that's where I am. I can't say it in every day walks of life.

"To help people in our environment and people that have been suffering these things, to have something that they know when they go on a football field that no-one will dare to even chant one word at them."

Sterling does not believe that issuing fines is enough and, as well as the nine points deduction, he also feels that the guilty clubs should also be forced to play three matches behind closed doors.

The England international also would like to see more Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic (BAME) people in charge of football governing bodies and clubs.

Current and ex-footballers in England and Wales staged a protest against racism over the weekend, in a campaign initiated by the Professional Footballer's Assocation (PFA).

They boycotted social media for 24 hours and posted the #Enough graphic on their social media accounts before it started at 0800h on Friday morning.

The campaign is an attempt to increase the pressure on social media companies and the sport's governing bodies to take stronger action when responding to racist abuse, the PFA said in a statement.

The association added that the boycott was the first step in a long campaign they are planning in an attempt to tackle the issue of racism in football.