CA gets tough on racism

Cricket Australia wants to weed out ‘mindless’ fans [GALLO/GETTY]

Cricket Australia (CA) has announced fans at Australia’s first test against India could be banned from the Melbourne Cricket Ground for life if they are found to be involved in racial taunting of players and other fans.

Anyone caught doing so by undercover surveillance officers would be ejected from the ground and face further action, a CA spokesman told Melbourne’s Herald Sun newspaper.

“Our message to any mindless people who are thinking of going down that path is we won’t tolerate that sort of thing,” CA spokesman Peter Young said.

“We will find anyone who does it, they will be ejected from the ground and they face life bans from ever re-entering the ground.”

Police will also be checking for any offensive or racist slogans on banners while patrons will be encouraged to report any behaviour to groundstaff or the police.

The players’ behaviour will also be monitored.

Australia all-rounder Andrew Symonds was the subject of racial abuse on their tour of India earlier this year.

The first match of the four-test series between Australia and India begins at the MCG on December 26.