Former England international Eni Aluko has called on European football's governing body (UEFA) to lead by example in the fight against racism.
Support in football circles for the Black Lives Matter campaign has been growing since the untimely death of black U.S. citizen George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin.
Bundesliga players have been displaying messages of support for Floyd while Premier League players in England are being urged to follow their Bundesliga counterparts and to take a knee in solidarity with the movement, when they return to action.
She is hoping that players will continue to use their platform to fight racism.
"I think football can actually set a really good example," Aluko told Sky Sports.
"We have players in the Premier League from all over the world. Dressing rooms are multi-cultural, managers are multi-cultural."
In 2017 Aluko was given an apology by the English FA, following a long legal dispute, for discriminatory remarks made by former England head coach Mark Sampson on the grounds of race.
UEFA has been criticised many times in the past for being too soft when handing out punishment for racism in the game.
Only last year the governing body was criticised for the disciplinary measures taken after Bulgaria supporters taunted black English players with Nazi salutes and monkey chants during a Euro 2020 qualifier in October.
The Bulgarian FA, which was already serving a punishment for a previous racist incident, was ordered to play one game behind closed doors and pay a fine of €75,000.
Aluko has called on UEFA to issue stiffer penalties for racist incidents that occur in the future.
"I think football should really lead the way in terms of how it punishes racism," added Aluko.
"We're seeing with the George Floyd murder, one of the issues (being raised) is that police get away with it and so people find that injustice in the way racism is dealt with.
"In the same way with sport, often it's a conversation that the authorities don't really deal with, in terms of the sanctions.
"I've said this many times before, the minute that the likes of UEFA come down really hard on racism, it won't happen as often.
"I know clubs come down hard with banning fans and banning fans for life but from a wider point of view, there needs to be a deterrent system set up by UEFA.
"So how the sport deals with racism will really set an example for the world and for sport."
Download the brand new OffTheBall App in the Play Store & App Store right now! We've got you covered!
Subscribe to OffTheBall's YouTube channel for more videos, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for the latest sporting news and content.
