March 16 (Bloomberg) -- FIFA, world soccer's governing body, said it will impose stricter penalties to combat racism in the sport, with clubs in extreme cases facing possible relegation.

In the week England defender Rio Ferdinand said current sanctions were too lenient, any national body that fails to incorporate the new rules may see its national team suspended for two years, FIFA said in a statement following a meeting of its executive committee.

``Recent events have demonstrated that there is a need for concerted action and an urgency for more severe measures to kick this evil out,'' FIFA President Sepp Blatter said in a statement.

Barcelona's black striker Samuel Eto'o threatened to walk off the field in a league game at Real Zaragoza last month following racist abuse. Manchester United's Ferdinand said officials were ``paying lip service to the problem.'' Eto'o and Real Madrid's Roberto Carlos may be among black players to address a Spanish parliamentary probe of racism on the terraces.

FIFA in 2004 fined Spain's soccer federation 100,000 Swiss francs ($78,000) after spectators racially abused England's black players during an exhibition game.

FIFA's new measures range in severity from match suspensions, to points deduction -- three for a first offense, six for a second and relegation in case of further ones.

``Some people will never learn, and that is the reason for which FIFA must intervene so as to return sanity to the game and keep these people away from the stadiums,'' Juventus defender Lilian Thuram, who addressed the committee, said in the statement.

To contact the reporter on this story: Ravi Ubha in London at rubha@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: March 16, 2006 14:21 EST