England PM Cameron to host 'anti racism' football summit at Downing Street

London, Feb 12(ANI): England Prime Minister David Cameron has decided to intervene directly in the recent racism rows plaguing English football, by hosting a summit on the issue at Downing Street next week.

Cameron and Jeremy Hunt, the Culture Secretary, will host a 'round table discussion' at Number 10 with leading personalities from the footballing authorities and player representatives.

This move from Cameron has come after fears that incidents allegedly fuelled by racism are damaging the image of London Olympic Games, which will begin in July, The Telegraph reports.

In a fresh incident yesterday, Liverpool striker Luis Suarez refused to shake hands with Manchester United defender Patrice Evra, whom he had racially abused in October, before the highly anticipated televised match between the two teams at Old Trafford, which United won 2-1.

Suarez was handed an eight-match ban for his racist offence against Evra. A statement from the Football Association said the 24-year-old Uruguayan had used words that 'included a reference to Evra's color.'

Former England captain John Terry is also facing a court trial, scheduled to happen in July, over charges of racially abusing QPR defender Anton Ferdinand in a game also played in October.

Cameron had last month made it clear that the government wouldn't tolerate any kind of racism in Britain.

"Many of us will have been concerned by recent events. My message is clear. We will not tolerate racism in Britain. It has absolutely no place in our society. And where it exists, we will kick it out," he said in his statement last month. source at the Premier League, one of the authorities expected to go to Downing Street, said the talks were expected to be 'constructive and positive'. (ANI)