By Tom Fordyce BBC Sport Online

Racism is rife in parts of European football, a BBC Sport Online investigation has revealed.

We sent reporters to big games across Europe to provide a snapshot of the situation as it stands at the end of 2002.

And from Britain to Poland, France to Yugoslavia, the conclusion was the same: football needs to do more if it is to rid itself of racism.

Our investigation revealed:

• racist abuse of black players in Italy
• widespread anti-Semitism in Poland
• flagrant racism in Yugoslavia where police ignore the problem

Although the problem appears largely confined to Eastern Europe, where racism remains a deep-rooted malaise ignored by the authorities, it is still a significant issue in Italy.

In Rome, Lazio's hardcore right-wing fans ritually greet black players with monkey chants and racist abuse.

However, there were encouraging signs that racism is being successfully tackled in some parts of Europe.

Matches in Paris, Berlin, Rotterdam and London at grounds which have previously witnessed racist incidents, were conducted free of bigotry, according to our eye witnesses.

But BBC Sport Online also found that, Europe-wide, football does not reflect the racial diversity of the society of which it is part.

Piara Power, of anti-racism pressure group Kick It Out, said: "We've made quite a lot of progress in Britain - but there's a lot more still to be done.

"There are issues of exclusion that need to be dealt with - for example, there are only one or two Asian professional footballers in this country.

United stand

"We don't have enough former black players going into management and coaching.

"We don't have enough local people of ethnic descent employed by football clubs in other roles, such as administration.

"Black players in eastern Europe still have monkey chants made at them.

"These are the new issues, and they are harder to understand and harder to campaign around - but they need to be solved."

Kick It Out have been running an anti-racism campaign across the continent for the last fortnight.

"We need to get the message across to everyone in the game that we can stand united against racism," explained Power.

"We need to show that racism in all its manifestations needs to be challenged, that it isn't something football will tolerate."