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PARIS (AP) -Referees should have the power to stop matches if players are subjected to racial abuse at next month's European Championship, France defender Lilian Thuram said Tuesday.
Players such as Cameroon striker Samuel Eto'o have previously advocated walking off the field if subjected to racist abuse, but Thuram said referees should be the ones taking decisive action.
"In the European Championship it would be good for the referees to assume their responsibilities. I think it could be something very important," Thuram said. "The referee has the right to stop the match if he wants."
Thuram is expected to be chosen for the June 7-29 tournament in Austria and Switzerland when France coach Raymond Domenech names his squad Sunday. It would be the seventh straight major international tournament for Thuram, who holds the country's record with 138 national team appearances.
The FC Barcelona defender was speaking at a news conference for the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance in Paris, which was launching its "Unite against racism" initiative campaign ahead of Euro 2008.
Thuram, who moved to France from Guadeloupe as a young child, said he fears racism in soccer stadiums is increasing.
"It's true that these last few years we are witnessing more and more problems in football," Thuram said. "A certain rise of racism. As long as there isn't an in-depth education about racism, things will not change."
Thuram said players need to feel protected on the field, because without intervention from referees, players like Eto'o or Morocco defender Abdeslam Ouaddou feel compelled to try and resolve matters themselves.
While playing for Barcelona in a Spanish league match at Zaragoza in February 2006, Eto'o was racially abused with monkey noises when taking a corner. The Cameroon forward began walking off the field but was persuaded to remain.
"Why should it be just Eto'o who leaves the field, that is the real question?" Thuram said. "The real question would be that the referees, the players, leave the field together.
"If it's just Eto'o, the black player, who leaves the field, that is the real problem."
During a French first division league match on Feb. 16, Ouaddou, the captain of Valenciennes, tried to climb into the stands to confront a racist aggressor among Metz's fans at the Saint-Symphorien stadium.
Ouaddou, who also led the Atlas Lions at the African Cup of Nations earlier this year, said he repeatedly informed referee Damien Ledentu of the abuse.
