NEWS: The FAI have been warned by UEFA that sectarian booing at international matches must stop immediately.

The warning follows an investigation into the persistent booing of a Rangers player during Ireland's game with Georgia at Lansdowne Road in June.

Striker Shota Arveladze was targeted by sections of the home crowd because of his links to the Glasgow club.

FAI chief executive Fran Rooney said the booing had to stop if Irish soccer fans were to keep their reputation for good behaviour throughout the world.

"The bottom line is that the reputation of the Irish fans is tarnished. We've got the best fans in the world, but, if this continues, it will disappear," he said.

"It seems to start with a small group of people and then build from there. From correspondence I have received, I can see that some people didn't know why they are booing and think it was just fun because the player had a few bad touches and the booing was just putting him off.

"But I have also received letters from people in the North of Ireland who are Protestant who were personally abused for asking people to stop booing. We've got a situation that is racist, but also bigoted and sectarian."

Speaking at a press conference yesterday, Rooney revealed the FAI have been effectively given a yellow card by UEFA. A complaint by a member of the public about the booing of Arveladze was made to UEFA following Ireland's 2-0 victory, and Rooney admitted UEFA had taken a very dim view of the situation.

"I personally rang Shota Arveladze after the incident to apologise," he said. "The Georgian FA wrote a letter to UEFA saying they were happy with what we did and UEFA have said they will take no further action. But they have taken the matter very seriously."

Before the Georgia game, manager Brian Kerr used his programme notes to criticise the booing of players while there was a notice below the team sheets in the programme. And, after the game, Rooney went on television to speak out against the booing.

Rooney also revealed UEFA have the power to fine the FAI or even force Ireland to play behind closed doors should the problem persist.

For next Tuesday's game against Australia several messages have been placed in the programme while the FAI have said stewards have also been trained to deal with racist booing. The Australians have two players in their squad who currently play for Rangers - Kevin Muscat and Craig Moore.

"If people boo they will be asked to stop and if it continues, appropriate action will be taken," Rooney said. "If it continues, we would like to stop these people going to games."

An abbreviated version of the statement released by the FAI read:

Fran Rooney has called for supporter power to come into play to eradicate racist-based treatment of players at matches.

"With the fantastic support given by the vast majority of our fans, I would call on everyone who attends our games to exercise their influence on the small minority of so called fans who engage in racist-based booing."

The call comes in the wake of UEFA's decision to investigate the booing of Shota Arveladze by a minority of the spectators at Lansdowne Road.

As part of the investigation UEFA asked the FAI to respond to the complaint.

In its response, the FAI said the association unequivocally condemns all forms of racist behaviour and that these sentiments had been expressed in the match programme, that the CEO condemned the behaviour of the section of the fans in the media and the manager's programme comments also condemned such behaviour.

The response also pointed out that Rooney personally made contact with Arveladze on the day following the game, to apologise for the behaviour of the minority of fans who had engaged in the booing. The FAI subsequently received correspondence from the Georgian FA expressing their deep appreciation of the FAI's handling of their visit.

The UEFA delegate at Lansdowne Road was also satisfied overall with what was an excellent atmosphere at the game.

In view of the above UEFA decided not to take disciplinary action against the FAI following an investigation by the Control and Disciplinary Body (of UEFA) into the booing.

"The booing on a racist basis must stop before we find ourselves sanctioned by UEFA which can ultimately only have a negative impact on our own team," Rooney said.

"The tremendous reputation of the Irish supporters is in danger of being tarnished by the behaviour of some people at our recent games. We need to generate a wider awareness of this as an issue in football and clearly indicate that it is unacceptable, unwarranted and unhelpful."