The English Professional Footballers' Association (PFA) issued a six-point action plan to help deal with racism on Wednesday following a series of high profile developments in the fallout from the John Terry-Anton Ferdinand case The PFA has been criticised for not doing enough to tackle the problem, but responded by saying the time was right for tougher penalties. The plan comes a day after David Bernstein, the chairman of the Football Association, said the FA's sanctions for racial abuse were being reviewed. The response from the FA and the PFA comes after Reading striker Jason Roberts, a member of the PFA's management committee, expressed frustration that the problem of racism was not being dealt with properly by the sport's authorities. Roberts was the catalyst behind the move to boycott the wearing of anti-racism warm-up T-shirts during the Kick It Out organisation's annual anti-racism weekend last Saturday and Sunday. SIX-POINT PLAN The PFA's plan calls for: 1) Speeding up the process of dealing with reported racist abuse by closely monitoring any incidents 2) Consideration of stiffer penalties for racist abuse and an equality awareness programme for culprits and clubs involved 3) An English form of the "Rooney rule" - introduced by American football's National Football League in 2003 - to make sure qualified ethnic minority coaches are on interview lists for job vacancies 4) Monitoring the proportion of black coaches and managers 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) Keeping abreast of other equality issues such as gender, sexual orientation, disability, anti-Semitism, Islamophobia and Asians in football. PFA chief executive Gordon Taylor also called for unity among players following widespread media reports that some were considering forming a breakaway organisation for black footballers. "If they want their own particular select group who they feel can influence everybody more than the whole PFA as a union together, I would say they are seriously mistaken," said Taylor. "If we are not careful, this will set us back years. It would not only set back the game, it would set back the anti-racist initiative," he told the BBC. SANCTIONS REVIEW Former West Bromwich Albion and Arsenal defender Brendon Batson, a former PFA administrator, agreed, telling the BBC: "I don't think there would be any benefit. "What we need to do is address the concerns of current black players, hear their voice and see if we can do something about it. "We need to harness the anger of the current players and let it be an instrument for change, but I don't think a split will help the situation." FA chairman Bernstein told reporters at Wembley on Tuesday that the domestic governing body will review its sanctions for racist abuse following the Terry case. The Chelsea captain is serving a four-match domestic suspension after being found guilty of racially abusing Queens Park Rangers defender Anton Ferdinand a year ago. He was also fined 220,000 pounds ($350,700). But there was widespread criticism in the media from players that Terry escaped lightly after Liverpool's Uruguay forward Luis Suarez was banned for eight matches for racially abusing Manchester United's France defender Patrice Evra last year. Clarke Carlisle, the chairman of the PFA, told Sky Sports that ideally the organisation was looking for longer suspensions in the future than the one Terry received. "Eight games is a minimum entry level," he said. "The FA did punish John Terry in the parameters they had in place but it's those parameters that are not strong enough. They need to be far tougher than just four games." (For more sports news and updates, follow Ahram Online Sports on Twitter at@AO Sportsand on Facebook atAhramOnlineSports)
