09.10.2015

Football People conferences spark national debates on discrimination and football

From Italy to Ukraine several national and international level conferences will use football to address issues of discrimination and social engagement during the Football People weeks.

Between 8 and 22 October the events, funded through the Fare Event Grants and Small Grants schemes, will focus on issues including the development of women's football and sexism in the game, refugee and migrant inclusion through football, anti-Roma discrimination and LGBT-phobia.

Addressing lawmakers and football authorities to further the participation of Roma people in sport and Roma-rights at large, Spanish organisation Federación de Asociaciones Gitanas de Cataluña (FAGiC) will host a conference on the topic on 14 October.

Building on her experience in working with the Romanian Football Association in football and anti-Roma discrimination projects, Raluca Negulesco, Fare Board member and executive director of the Policy Centre for Roma Minorities will share best practice and programme’s outcomes at the event.

Europe’s refugee crisis and its impact on the Mediterranean countries, including Italy, will be the topic of ASD Balon Mundial’s conference, a Turin-based not for profit.

Topics including institutional discrimination and the exclusion of asylum-seekers, refugees and undocumented migrants from participation in sport, will be addressed, and how football can serve as a means for empowerment.

The event will take place on 17 October, the same day in which the Spanish online portal Detacón Lab will host the first working day on women’s football. The pioneering event will consist of workshops and debates on the representation of female players in media and the management of their careers and football as a tool for inclusion and equality.

With similar goals, the Bosnian and Herzegovinian PR agency Agencija za komunikacije ebbe comms conference in Sarajevo, on 13 October, will highlight the achievements in women's football for the first time with the aim of raising the and encourage a debate on gender issues through football.

In France, representatives of the Pride House initiative at London Olympics 2012, Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games and Toronto 2015 Pan Am/Parapan Am Games and Women’s World Cup will meet in Paris on 10 October at summit that intends to share information with local organisations on how to organise similar initiatives for UEFA Euro 2016.

German Bundesliga club VFL Wolfsburg will play host to the European Football for Development Network, who will invite professional football clubs to discuss best practice projects in tackling discrimination in the game, the problem of far-right supporters groups and issues of exclusion by the LGBT community.

The conference features round tables and panel discussions, breakout sessions and a Q&A on the issues of racism and discrimination in European football.

Smaller scale discussion events will take place throughout the Football People campaign. These include a roundtable event in Ukraine on football, inclusion and its contribution to a multicultural society on the 14th October.

#DETACÓN es #FootballPeople Impacientes x que llegue #WFWD15 17/10 http://t.co/9Uf71R0FV7 #Madrid Go! ⚽ @farenet pic.twitter.com/k2BJKgK9y8

— DETACÓN (@detaconlab) October 9, 2015

Okrugli stol na temu “Ljudska prava, antidiskriminacija i fudbal” - @farenet http://t.co/lEp0ukVVpO #footballpeople pic.twitter.com/9yobLECMhZ — TrafikaBA (@TrafikaBa) October 9, 2015

Join @farenet #FootballPeople actionweeks to counter all forms of discrimination in football http://t.co/B74yQEjOXr pic.twitter.com/QWBhnRe0MX

— EFDN (@EFDN_tweets) October 8, 2015

Žene u fudbalu čine pobjednički tim! / Women in #football make a winning team! #footballpeople #FP2015 @farenet pic.twitter.com/BvfgXnEzC8 — ebbe comms (@ebbecomms) October 7, 2015

Consulta el programa del #WFWD15 + Inscripciones http://t.co/9Uf71R0FV7 #talleres #experiencias #mujeryfútbol pic.twitter.com/DvU2hUEB74

— DETACÓN (@detaconlab) October 7, 2015

A Pride a House Summit this Saturday in Paris. Come & discuss #LGBT visibility at major sporting events #FP2015 pic.twitter.com/RcC1ah8r7v — Pride House Intl (@PrideHouseIntl) October 7, 2015

Iniziano oggi le Fare Action Weeks (8-22 ottobre), una serie di iniziative contro la discriminazione e per... http://t.co/XbtQq1PRO8

— Balon Mundial (@BalonMundial) October 8, 2015

La FAGiC organitza la conferència "Futbol, Inclusió i Poble Gitano" sobre la discriminació al futbol. pic.twitter.com/AsuWiRHydC — FAGiC (@FAGIC1) September 30, 2015

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