German football creates anti- racism post

German football authorities Friday appointed a Turkish-born management consultant to a key advisory post in efforts to stamp out racism and hooliganism in the game.The German Football Federation (DFB) named 43-year-old mother-of-two Gul Keskinler as fan integration officer and member of a newly-formed “task force” to combat racism, xenophia and fan violence.Keskinler, who was born in Istanbul but has lived in Germany since 1970 and has German citizenship, will advise the DFB executive on a voluntary basis on projects to improve and foster fan communication and behaviour.The DFB three weeks ago also appointed a security chief to lead the 21-strong task force which has been established after several incidents of fan violence and racist chants this season. Although the World Cup in Germany this summer passed off largely peacefully, football officials have been dismayed to see an increase in hooliganism at lower league games. Keskinler has worked on a number of sports-linked cultural and social projects and took part in an “integrations summit” called by Chancellor Angela Merkel in the summer.Meanwhile Wisla Krakow’s Serbian defender Nikola Mijailovic was handed a record five match ban from UEFA competition for racially abusing Blackburn forward Benni Mc Carthy. Wisla lost the 2-1 tie but were still three points clear at the top of the Polish league.