ONE of the ugliest photos I've seen in sport was your excellent shot of Mido, the Boro forward, and the faces of Newcastle fans as he celebrated his goal in the Tees-Tyne derby match (Echo Football, Aug 27).

It portrayed all the hatred and venom as anti-Islamic taunts were hurled at Mido.

Since then, the FA and the clubs have soft-pedalled on the incident.

Reports have been duly asked for, and no doubt in the fullness of time a cotton wool punishment will be issued.

In my opinion, the deduction of, say, two league points from the offending club is the only thing that might make the abusers begin to think "maybe it's serious".

Otherwise, as usual, the whole issue of "Stamp racism out of football" may as well be "Keep racism under the carpet".

Syd Slawther, Darlington.