By Mark Baber
October 8 – At a special United Nations event on racism and football on Monday in Geneva, UEFA President Michel Platini gave the keynote speech emphasising UEFA’s fierce determination to fight racism, discrimination and intolerance in football. FIFA delegate Tokyo Sexwale said a new global “barometer of racism” would be set up to help in tackling discrimination.
The UEFA President had been invited to the event, which opened the 11th session of the Intergovernmental Working Group on the Effective Implementation of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action, by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navanethem Pillay.
Platini told the assembled delegates: “In football and in everyday life, we are doing much more than simply combating racism. We are fighting discrimination in all its forms. I do not need to tell you that the societies in which we live are increasingly complex and diverse.
“People are frequently subjected to numerous pressures, to physical or mental harassment, often daily. These pressures are the result of their physical appearance, ideas, beliefs, gender or sexual preferences.
“Football, the world’s most popular sport, reflects the society in which it flourishes. It reflects its values, but also, unfortunately, its prejudices, fears and mistrust.
“Of course, this extraordinary popularity also brings responsibilities,” Platini said. “It is precisely because of that popularity that football must serve as a vehicle for values that can help make society more tolerant of diversity. At the same time, those who govern our sport have a duty to protect the players, in what is their place of work, from all forms of discrimination. They have a right to be treated with respect, it is as simple as that.”
Speaking of UEFA’s Respect campaign, which was launched in 2008, Platini said: “Nowadays football doesn’t tolerate any form of discrimination, whether racial, cultural, religious, sexist or homophobic. Likewise, it recognises no hierarchy of evil.
“For more than a decade, European football has had to deal with all kinds of racist, xenophobic and extremist behaviour. In the vast majority of cases, this behaviour is the work of small, organised groups that have chosen to express their hatred for others in a football stadium to exploit the popularity and media coverage enjoyed by our sport.”
Whilst highlighting measures already taken, Platini admitted that racism remains a problem in certain parts of Europe. “But it also means that UEFA is taking steps and acting decisively in order to eradicate this evil,” he said. “We are not just talking a good game; we are facing up to our responsibilities. Our attitude, which I am proud to describe as uncompromising, is not always the most popular within the football family, but as the saying goes: ‘Spare the rod and spoil the child’. UEFA does not fight discrimination in order to increase its popularity … it does so because this is the right thing to do.”
FIFA delegate Tokyo Sexwale, who spent time in prison with Nelson Mandela during the anti-apartheid struggle, and who is now a part of FIFA’s new Task Force against Racism and Discrimination, told delegates that FIFA plans to create a global “barometer” of discrimination.
Sexwale said: “The barometer is going to tell that society that the conduct of your sporting people is bringing your country down. I don’t think anybody here would like to be low on the barometer.”
Sexwale also confirmed that FIFA will be organising a summit on racism next year with the Nelson Mandela Foundation saying Mandela himself believes that “sport is more powerful than government in breaking down barriers.”
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