Soccer:Players were warned today they would be yellow carded if they walked off the pitch after being racially abused at the European Championships.

UEFA president Michel Platini confirmed the rule preventing players from leaving the field without the referee’s permission would stand — even if they are the victims of racism from the stands in Poland and Ukraine.

Mario Balotelli last week threatened to walk off if he suffered racist abuse during Italy’s Euro 2012 games, but Platini said the Manchester City striker would be punished for doing so unless the officials stopped the game.

“It’s a yellow card,” Platini said at the tournament’s kick-off press conference in Warsaw, which was completely dominated by the issue of racism. “We’d certainly support the referee if he decided to stop the game. It’s not a player, Mr Balotelli, who’s in charge of refereeing. It’s the referee who takes these decisions.

“So, the referee has been given advice and he can stop the game if there are problems. We will stop the game if there are problems because I think racism is the worst of this.”