Kick It Out and FARE ambassador Paul Elliott
More than 100 campaigners, fans, administrators, players and policy makers from 28 European countries gathered to celebrate a decade of the Football Against Racism in Europe network last week.
Ten years after the foundation of FARE in Vienna, Austria’s capital was once again the venue for an event to devise the future of the network.
Over the weekend the Football for Equality networking conference, held at FK Austria Vienna’s Horr stadium, looked into new approaches in challenging racism and homophobia across European football.
UEFA Senior Manger for Football and Social Responsibility, Patrick Gasser, presented details about UEFA’s RESPECT campaign which was launched in Vienna during EURO 2008.
The campaign stresses the respect for diversity and differences across the European society and is a clear statement against any form of discrimination, including homophobia.
Reception
On Sunday evening a FARE reception at the Gerhard-Hanappi stadium, home of Austrian league-leaders SK Rapid, celebrated FARE’s 10th anniversary. A group of international high-profile players spoke at the event.
Rapid captain and Austrian Footballer of the Year 2009, Steffen Hofmann, explained: “In a stadium full of people you hear dumb or abusive remarks. This happens also here at our club – but then our fans deal with it.
"That’s very important for us. We as players talk about incidences and we talk also to our fans so it won’t happen again. We are strictly against any kind of discrimination, since we are all coming from different countries. The important thing is that we play football together.”
FARE ambassador Paul Elliott, a former player at Celtic and Pisa, pointed out that the battle has not yet been won: “Every player has the fundamental human right to work in a racism-free environment.
"The most important thing is zero tolerance against racism and education at the grassroots level. Xenophobia, homophobia and other forms of discrimination are totally unacceptable in the game.
'Positive stand'
"FARE has adopted a very positive stand to challenge these serious issues in football. Things have become better, but there are bigger battles ahead and the fight doesn’t stop.
"The next frontier lies in the structures, the boards, the councils, inclusion of minorities at all levels. In my country 40% of the players are black, but there are very few black coaches or board members.”
The Surinam-born striker Samuel Koejoe (DAC Dunajská Streda) who played previously in the German and Austrian Bundesliga, recounted the story of when he was racially abused at the Hanappi-stadium twelve years ago.
He responded by gesturing to the Rapid fans and, as a result, he was fined by the local police, though the racism remained unchallenged.
'Fighting actively'
He said: “The situation in football is getting a little better, because of people like you who are fighting actively against racism, and therefore I will always support FARE.”
The other players at the event were Branko Bošković (SK Rapid and Montenegro) and Oliver Prudlo, chairman of the Austrian Players Union and ex-player at FC Wacker Innsbruck.
In a joint pledge the players and football stakeholders “fully support all efforts to kick racism and homophobia out of football” and call on European football to unite against discrimination.
Signatories of the pledge included representatives of UEFA, the Austrian Football Association, the Austrian Football League, and public bodies such as the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, the Austrian Ministry for Sport and the City of Vienna - as well as members of FARE.
For more information on FARE, please visit farenet.org
