Fifa president Sepp Blatter has demanded that the world of football "reject racism of any kind" in the wake of Spanish fans' offensive behaviour during England's friendly in Madrid.
Hundreds if not thousands of the Bernabeu chanted and made monkey noises at England's black players.
There have been calls for Fifa to punish the Spanish FA following the disgraceful scenes.
But what options are open to football's world governing body, and what stance can referees, players, managers take if it were to happen again?
AUTHORITIES
Fifa launched a new, wide-ranging Code of Ethics on 6 October - and it has come under heavy pressure to enforce the rules which govern them.
The code specifically covers banners bearing racist slogans but it is thought the same penalties could apply to racist chants, with offenders facing a minumum �15,000 fine and up to five competitive matches behind closed doors.
Presently, anyone throwing a missile on to the pitch can be banned for life from football grounds throughout Europe.
 | If you want to report racist behaviour at football grounds call the Kick it Out hotline Freephone: 0800 169 9414 |
As it comes under increasing pressure to act, Fifa could consider whether racial insults should carry the same punishment.
Fifa will also consider pleas for match officials to abandon matches where there is racial abuse.
Sports minister Richard Caborn said: "Fifa and Uefa have toconsider what to do about this.
"Perhaps the fourth official should have the power to speak to the people running the match and order them to issue a warning over the public address system.
"It would in effect be a yellow card and if the abuse continues then the officials should take the players off and abandon the match."
REFEREES
Could the men in the middle the world over take matters into their own hands and put a premature end to games if they deem crowd behaviour too offensive?
Following new Dutch legislation, a referee last month set a precedent by apparently stopping a game in the 80th minute following anti-semitic chants from Den Haag supporters in a match against PSV Eindhoven.
Den Haag now face playing their next two home matches behind closed doors.
PLAYERS
A walk-off could become a real possibility in the future with Rio Ferdinand revealing he was close to quitting the Spain match as abuse worsened.
"I don't think anybody back in England or on the England team would have blamed us," said the defender.
The FA would not comment on what stance it would take should players walk off in the future, but players' union representative Gordon Taylor believes it is the right course of action to take.
"The message should have come down from the FA directors, to say we will take responsibility for this and take them off," Taylor said.
But Arsene Wenger, the Arsenal manager, disagrees.
"First of all, it makes people who are stupid win, and also we have a responsibility.
"Out of 50,000 people, maybe 5,000 behave in a stupid way but there's still 45,000 who behave normally and we have a responsibility to these people as well.
"I feel that if you just walk off the pitch, I think that's irresponsible behaviour as well.
"And it creates an endless story, because every time a team is losing at home, people will create these kind of problems, players will walk off the pitch and they (the home side) will win."
MANAGERS
England boss Sven Goran Eriksson said he would not be pressured by racists into not picking black players to avoid ugly confrontations.
"I don't know if I shouldn't send on black players because of the bad behaviour by others," he said.
"I don't think so. If I start to take off or put on players because of their skin we have lost the battle."
CROWDS
Kick It Out would like to see the crowd take a more pro-active stance in discouraging fellow supporters from racist behaviour.
A spokesman said the progress made in Britain over the past 20 years was aided by people power.
"The campaign admitted there was a problem and started taking long-term action. There was a noticeable sea-change in the attitude of supporters," he said.
"Nowadays, they will turn around to people and tell them to shut-up. That's what we need in places like Spain."
But it is not only about confrontation, and if taking Britain's lead other countries could make reporting racism at grounds much easier.
"There need to be mechanisms put in place where people can report racism in the right way," the spokesman added.
"In this country, we have a freephone number, the FA has a freephone number and clubs have text messaging services.
"I've been told by Spanish campaigners that there is no way for people to make an official complaint. Until that is addressed we will continue to see problems."
The Kick it Out hotline number is 0800 169 9414.
MMIX
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If I start to take off or put on players because of their skin we have lost the battle 
