Gareth Bale: Wales captain would support team-mates walking off pitch if racially abused

Gareth Bale says he would support his Wales team-mates walking off the pitch if they were to suffer racist abuse during a game.

FIFA has opened disciplinary proceedings in relation to England’s World Cup Qualifier in Hungary on Thursday after England pair Jude Bellingham and Raheem Sterling were racially abused and targeted with monkey chants.

“If things don’t get sorted, that will happen,” Bale said about the possibility of players walking off the pitch.

“If anything happens to any of our players and they wanted to walk off the pitch, I’d be fully for it.

“Football qualifiers are important but these matters come way above football.

“If we felt we weren’t getting protection and being treated the right way by the governing bodies and the only way to get the best response was to walk off, I’d be fully for it.

“At the end of the day, it’s the right thing to do and it’s more important than football.
“We haven’t discussed it. But we’d have that discussion if it happened and we’d all agree on it as we’re a team that sticks together and if anyone is being targeted, we’ll do the right thing.”

Welsh duo Rabbi Matondo and Ben Cabango are among a large number of professional footballers who were targeted with racist abuse online last season.

Bale said countries with supporters that are guilty of committing multiple racism offences could be punished by being banned from international competitions.

He added: “It’s frustrating. I don’t know why they launch these investigations that take so long when it is clear to see. Action should be taken to stop it.

“I don’t know the severity of what to do to but the easiest thing is… whether you ban the fans from the stadium or if they keep repeatedly doing it, which seems to be what is happening, then you ban the country from the competition.

“If that country keeps making these horrible gestures, then maybe the best thing to do is to get rid of them, give them a suspension, and hopefully they will learn their lesson that way.”

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Bale on Madrid return and Belarus clash
Bale is back at Real Madrid and playing games after spending last season on loan at Tottenham.

The 32-year-old says he is in a “better environment” with Carlo Ancelotti, who was the manager when he signed for Real in 2013, succeeding Zinedine Zidane at the Bernabeu.

“It is always good to be in a good environment,” Bale said.

“I think the biggest reason why I went to Tottenham was because I knew it would be a better environment for me, a break that maybe I needed at the time.

“I had a great time at Tottenham. It definitely helped me mentally to be back in a happier place. I think that showed again coming back with Wales in the Euros.

“I have brought that into Real Madrid this season, where obviously there is a better environment for myself anyway.

“Just being in a happier place … I think every player will tell you if they’re in a happier place mentally, then physically they are going to feel better and perform better.”

Wales resume their World Cup qualifying campaign in Russia as Robert Page’s squad were unable to enter Belarus by air due to sanctions against the Minsk government.

UEFA’s choice of venue has proved controversial with players needing to hand over personal information to secure visas for entry into Russia.

Bale, who will win his 98th Wales cap against Belarus, said: “It’s not ideal, but we had to do it. Russia wasn’t the best neutral venue.

“I’m surprised the neutral venue wasn’t Wembley, to be honest. Everything else seems to be there! But it’s done now and we have to just get on with it.

“Everyone would be lying to you if they said they didn’t want to play in a World Cup for their country.

“We are in the midst of a World Cup qualifying campaign now and we are all fully prepared mentally and physically to try and do that.”

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