FIFA president Sepp Blatter has called for tougher punishments to be issued to clubs and players who are found guilty of racism in football.
Blatter, who pointed out that new rulings have to be put in place to ensure "the scourge of racism and discrimination is not being won," insisted that monetary punishments were increasingly ineffective.
"We have to punish not only through fines and stadium closures but we have to use our rules to suspend teams, to take away their points or even to relegate them if racism continues," he told the Confederation of African Football (CAF) congress at a Cairo hotel on Tuesday.
The FIFA president also reminded the African countries of the broad financial support to the continent's FA, and is expected to receive widespread backing from the 54 African countries across the region when he stands for re-election next month.
Blatter's three competitors, Prince Ali bin Al Hussein of Jordan, Dutch Football Association president Michael van Praag and former Portugal international Luis Figo were all in attendance at the assembly but were not invited to speak.