A survey has revealed that more than half of England's professional footballers have witnessed or have been themselves the victims of racist abuse in stadiums.
The poll of 200 players, of whom a third were from black and ethnic minority backgrounds, in the Premier League and Football League was carried out by football's anti-discrimination group Kick It Out.
According to The Independent, the survey, which came after high-profile criticism of Kick It Out by Jason Roberts and Rio Ferdinand after the John Terry and Luis Suarez racist abuse cases, suggest that 57 per cent of players have witnessed, and 24 per cent have been subjected to racist abuse at matches.
The poll also showed that seven per cent have been subjected to, and 20 per cent have witnessed racist abuse on the training ground or in the dressing room, adding that 62 per cent of the players felt mandatory short-listing should be in place for black and minority ethnic candidates applying for coaching or administration jobs.
Support for the 'Rooney rule', named after the regulation in American football whereby clubs have to interview at least one black or ethnic minority candidate when appointing coaches, came from both black and white players, the report added.