FIFA president Gianni Infantino has revealed referees will have the power to abandon matches in the World Cup if there are incidents of racism.

There are fears the tournament in Russia, starting next Friday, could be dogged by discrimination, with England defender Danny Rose telling his family not to travel to avoid being abused.

Yesterday, ex-England and Liverpool midfielder John Barnes phoned talkSPORT to discuss the idea of players walking off the field due to racism.

Infantino says there are measures in place should anything occur during matches and has warned of “serious consequences”.

“I wouldn’t say that we are concerned about discrimination, human rights and security but we take them very seriously,” he said.

“We have taken appropriate measure in the preparation process.

“In terms of discrimination we will have clear procedures in place, including a three-step process for referees who can stop, suspend or even abandon a match in case of discrimination.

“We have a monitoring system and then immediate sanctions if something happens, we obviously wish that doesn’t happen and everyone has been warned that if it happens there will be serious consequences.”