(CNN) -- Another week has passed for the world's most popular sport. Another week of brawls, scandal and allegations of racist abuse which has left the football's lawmakers grappling as to how best to tackle discrimination.
On Tuesday, England's Under-21 match with Serbia was overshadowed by ugly fighting and alleged racist chants directed at Danny Rose, an incident that led to calls from leading figures within the English game to ban the Balkan country from international football.
Not that England could in any way claim the higher moral ground as two days later former England captain John Terry decided against appealing his four-match ban and $356,000 fine for racially abusing Anton Ferdinand.
That punishment raised questions about the even handedness of the English Football Assocation given Liverpool striker Luis Suarez was banned for eight matches and fined $64,000 for comments he made to Manchester United's Patrice Evra in October 2011.
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Back in Switzerland on Thursday, European governing body UEFA decided to hand Lazio a $52,000 fine for racist chanting by their fans during a match with Tottenham Hotspur.
It is against this backdrop of abuse, bans and fines that Reading striker Jason Roberts launched his own protest against what he perceives to be a lack of action by anti-racism group Kick It Out.
On Saturday, before Reading's match with Liverpool, the Grenadian striker will refuse to wear a t-shirt displaying the logo of the anti-racism organization.
With the English seemingly fissuring over how best to tackle racism, former English Premier League striker Vincent Pericard questioned Roberts' boycott and called for a united front in the continued fight against discrimination.
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"If we are going to fight racism, we can only do it by being united," said Pericard, who played in England's top flight for Portsmouth having previously playing Italy and France.
"Having different parties will only give more power to the racists, which isn't what we want to achieve."
It is rumored other black players may follow Roberts' lead, while Manchester City, Chelsea, Arsenal and Aston Villa confirmed their players will wear the t-shirts.
"I know that just wearing a t-shirt is not going to make a difference, without action nothing is going to happen," continued Pericard.
"So I can agree with Jason Roberts, but one solution suggested by the Kick It Out chairman Herman Ouseley is for them to have more independence and more power, so they can have a bigger say.
It is now nearly a year since Chelsea lost to QPR 1-0 in an English Premier League game at Loftus Road. During the game it was alleged QPR defender Anton Ferdinand swore at John Terry and made reference to the Chelsea captain's reported affair with the ex-partner of former team-mate Wayne Bridge. Terry is then said to have described Ferdinand as a "f***ing black c***".
Crime and Punishment in sport
England midfielder Danny Rose claims he was subjected to monkey chants before, during and after the second-leg of their Under-21 Euro 2013 playoff match against Serbia on Tuesday, and had stones thrown at him by the crowd in Krusevac. Fans also ran on to the pitch and scuffles broke out after a 1-0 win secured England qualification for Euro 2013.
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"It is unfortunate we have had two very high-profile incidents," added Pericard, referring to the cases involving Terry and Suarez, "but I can speak from my own experience -- England is winning the battle against racism."
Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand has been unwavering in his support of his younger brother Anton, but his manager Alex Ferguson questioned Roberts' planned action.
"I have to disagree with Jason Roberts. I think he is making the wrong point," said the Scottish coach. "Everyone should be united, with all the players in the country wearing the Kick It Out warm-up tops.
"I don't know what point he is trying to make. I don't know if he is trying to put himself on a different pedestal from everyone. But he really should be supporting all the rest of the players who are doing it.
"When you do something, and everyone believes in it, you should all do it together. There shouldn't be sheep wandering off. I think he is making the wrong message. All the players are wearing it."
Former Stoke City and Juventus player Pericard outlined how a lot of the efforts made by organizations like Kick It Out have slipped under the radar.
"We have seen firsthand the amount of work they are doing behind the scenes at the moment," continued the 30-year-old, who runs a company which aims to help integrate foreign players who move to England.
"They are listening to what is being said by different black players and I can guarantee a lot is being doing done at the moment," added Pericard, who retired earlier this year after a playing career which included spells with Juventus and Stoke City.
"They promote education, mentoring, inclusion and equality across different cultures. I have been talking to them about improving the integration of foreign players into a country and providing them a level of support."
The t-shirt gesture that Roberts is not going to participate in is part of Kick It Out's annual awareness raising drive which is aimed at highlighting the work it has done to rid football of discrimination.
UEFA and Kick It Out's fellow anti-racism group Football Against Racism in Europe will also use the European Champions League and Europa League matches on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday to spread a message of tolerance and unity.
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Each season anti-discrimination organisation Kick it Out holds a week of action to promote awareness about its anti-racism work. But Reading's Grenadian striker Jason Roberts, who has played in England for the last 15 years, has said he will not wear the Kick It Out T-shirt in protest at what he perceives to be the campaign group's lack of action in combating racism in football.
Lazio was hit with a $52,000 fine by UEFA following racist chanting by its supporters during the Europa League fixture with Tottenham last month. But leading figures within the games say it is time for clubs and countries to be banned from playing matches if they are found guilty of racist abuse.
On Thursday, Chelsea captain John Terry opted not to appeal the English Football Association's verdict that he racially abused Queens Park Rangers defender Anton Ferdinand.
In July, Terry was cleared in a London court, where the criminal burden of proof is "beyond all reasonable doubt".
But the English Football Association then investigated the case, and using the test of "on the balance of probabilities", came to the conclusion that Terry's defence against claims he racially abused Ferdinand was "improbable, implausible, contrived". In September, Ferdinand declined Terry's offer of a handshake when QPR met Chelsea at Loftus Road as the feud between the two players rumbled on.
After an independent commission's report on the Terry case, the Chelsea captain's teammate Ashley Cole tweeted: "Hahahahaa, well done #fa I lied did I, #BUNCHOFT***S". The Chelsea and England left-back quickly issued a "unreserved apology" for his tweet through his solicitor, but he was fined $145,000 by the FA.
In 2011 the FA had to deal with another racism case, this time handing Liverpool striker Luis Suarez an eight-match ban and a $63,000 fine after finding the Uruguayan guilty of racially abusing Manchester United defender Patrice Evra.
Suarez and Evra failed to shake hands before the start of an English Premier League game at Old Trafford last season after the Uruguayan had served his ban. However, when United beat Liverpool 2-1 at Anfield in September, the pair did shake hands.
The last year has proved uncomfortable for the FA and questions have been raised over the differing punishments handed out to Terry and Suarez.
Questions have been raised about UEFA's sanctioning policy. Denmark striker Nicklas Bendtner was fined $126,000 and banned from playing in his side's next competitive game for flashing his sponsored waistband promoting a bookmaker as he celebrated a goal against Portugal in Euro 2012. But that fine eclipsed the $52,000 fine that UEFA handed to the Bulgarian Football Union for its fans' racist abuse of England players during a Euro 2012 qualifier in Sofia in September 2011.
In November 2011, FIFA president Sepp Blatter told CNN that football did not have a problem with racism on the field and any incidents should be settled by a handshake.
Stoke City boss Tony Pulis wants the Football Association to punish Liverpool's Luis Suarez for diving. "It's an embarrassment," said the Stoke manager after a 0-0 draw at Anfield. "The FA should be looking at this."
The Macedonia FA were fined $26,000 after fans racially abused England trio Ashley Cole, Sol Campbell and Emile Heskey during a qualifying game for Euro 2004.
In September 2011, Bulgaria were fined $55,000 after a small number of fans directed monkey chants at England's Ashley Young, Cole and Theo Walcott during a Euro 2012 qualifier in Sofia.
Russia was hit with a $38,000 punishment after supporters made monkey noises towards Czech Republic defender Theodor Gebre Selassie during Euro 2012
The Croatian FA were ordered to pay a $16,000 fine after their fans were found guilty of "displaying a racist banner and showing racist conduct during the Euro 2008 quarter-final tie against Turkey.
Russia were again in the news for the wrong reasons at Euro 2012 and were fined $39,00 for "the setting off and throwing of fireworks by Russia spectators, displaying of illicit banners and the invasion of the pitch by a supporter," during the Euro 2012 tie against Poland. Russia was also fined $155,000 after clashes between supporters and police during and after their game against the Czech Republic.
Porto were hit by a $27,000 fine after their fans were found guilty of subjecting Manchester City forward Mario Balotelli to monkey chants during a Europa League game in February 2012. It took UEFA six weeks to finally hand out a punishment. But questions were raised after UEFA also fined City $40,000 after the club were found guilty of coming back out on to the field of play late after the halftime interval.
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