The United Nations' top human rights official hailed Pescara's Ghanaian midfielder Sulley Muntari as an 'inspiration' on Monday for leaving the pitch in protest after the player said he was booked for complaining about racist chanting.

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein said FIFA needed to pay greater attention to the persistent problem of racism at games - and that his office had been in touch with soccer's governing body.

Muntari said he had complained that parts of the crowd, including a group of children, had hurled racist insults at him from the start of his Italian team's game at Cagliari in Serie A on Sunday.

The player said the referee then told him to stop talking to the crowd and ended up showing him the yellow card for dissent in the 90th minute.

Zeid called Muntari 'an inspiration to all of us here at the U.N. human rights office' for taking a stand.

The persistent problem of racism at games required 'added attention or deepened attention by FIFA,' he told reporters in Geneva.



His office had been in touch with the organisation, he said without saying when, and he planned to attend an international match in about six weeks' time to spread the message that 'racism and expressions of bigotry should not be tolerated at major sporting events'.