FIFA referees committee chief hopes for racism free World Cup

Moscow, June 13: FIFA referees committee chairman Pierluigi Collina has said that he hopes there will be no incidents of racism at the upcoming 2018 World Cup.

"It would be great if nothing will occur during the competition as well as during every match all over the world because having mixed sport and racism, something that nobody can understand and, of course, accept. So, hopefully, it won't be the case," Collina told journalists on Tuesday, reports Sputnik news agency.

"But if something should happen there is a clear procedure, the so-called 'three-step procedure'. Referees know it very well and, of course, they are ready to go through the different steps when needed," he added.

Collina said later that he was confident in regards to the referees who were chosen to officiate at the tournament.

"I'm afraid it's not a time to say why referees here or why assistant referees are not here. Of course, we cannot bring all the referees, we need to bring the referees we need here and we made this decision. We are convinced that it was a correct decision. We are confident that we've worked correctly in the selection process and the referees who are here deserved to be here," he said.