(Football news) As England took on Hungary at the Ferenc Puskas Stadium for the Qatar World Cup qualifier in 2022, boos echoed throughout the stadium as the players took a knee to show solidarity with the ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement. The reception, while abhorrent, was not wholly unexpected by the Hungarian fans. In the European Championship organized by UEFA, the governing body ordered Hungary to play behind closed doors for the next two matches due to the persistent racist and homophobic chants in the stands.

So why were there fans present in the World Cup qualifier against England?

The answer to that is sporting bureaucracy. The verdict passed by UEFA to ban fans for two games was only applicable to the events organized by them, while the World Cup qualifier is under the jurisdiction of FIFA. This means that Hungarian fans will not suffer the consequences of their actions until the UEFA Nations Cup in 2022, a situation that reflects poorly on FIFA and their priorities.

In cases of match fixing and corruption, football governing bodies ban players and officials from having any role in sport. Why is racism not given the same treatment? UEFA should have asked FIFA to enforce the punishment for the World Cup qualifiers but there simply doesn’t seem enough willingness from the so called ‘governing bodies’ to tackle issues that simply have no place in sport or society in today’s day and age.

If the monkey chants were not enough in the stands, no Hungarian player took the knee, a factor that simply validates the behavior of the fans. When Raheem Sterling scored and paid a touching tribute to his friend Steffie Gregg who recently passed away at the age of 26, the Man City player could not celebrate his goal as beer and other projectiles were hurled on the player with audible monkey chants ringing throughout the stadium. All of this while Sterling was penalized for his celebration while the fans continued with racist and homophobic chants.

It’s past time that football’s governing bodies such as FIFA and UEFA take matters of racism more seriously and take swift action against Hungarian fans. However, all cynicism aside, it's more than likely that a packed Budapest Stadium will be ready to unfurl hate at the Andorra national team who will face Hungary in the World Cup qualifiers next Wednesday.

Also read: Rampant Belgium and England win comfortably but European Champions held at home