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Winning hearts and minds

Communications and public affairs director William Gaillard details UEFA's anti-racist action.

By Mark Chaplin

Speaking to uefa.com, UEFA's communications and public affairs director William Gaillard said that the campaign to eliminate racism from football - and, more generally, from society as a whole - can only maintain its momentum if there is a move away from a state of denial about the issue.

Concerted efforts
UEFA and its charity partner, the FARE (Football Against Racism in Europe) network, have been leading a concerted campaign to highlight the need to banish racism from football. They have co-operated in staging events, issuing publications, and using the massive public and commercial platform of Europe's biggest football matches to press home the message that racism must not be allowed to flourish.

'State of denial'
"It is obvious that there is a state of denial [in certain regions]," said Gaillard. "I think all societies have gone through it. People say 'Well, racism doesn't exist, here we don't have a problem'. We went through it in western Europe some 30, 35 years ago, then we admitted that there was a problem."

Local action
Gaillard feels that there is a need for a continuous educational drive, and that national football associations can play a crucial role in such activities. He said: "Some countries in eastern Europe in particular are beginning to understand that there is a problem - they are dealing with ethnic minorities that are discriminated against, or who do not have the same access to sports facilities. There has to be more education work and awareness-raising, in particular in south-eastern and eastern Europe."

Bratislava summit
Gaillard and his UEFA colleagues welcomed the opportunity to see FARE's unstinting work at close-hand at a recent conference staged by the organisation in Bratislava, Slovakia - and says that UEFA is also planning further anti-racism gatherings of its own.

Roma example
"The [Bratislava conference] was tremendously successful," he said. "It broke new ground in terms of awareness-raising, in particular the plight of the Roma populations. For many of us, it was an eye-opener in understanding a problem that we were not aware of in western or northern Europe." The Roma people originally lived in north-west India, and arrived in Europe a millennium ago, first in the east, then migrating towards western Europe, but are still subject to discrimination and intolerance.

Refereeing role
A notable event took place in the anti-racism fight this season. Referees have shown that they are also prepared to make a stand and bring matches to a premature conclusion. In one high-profile example, Dutch referee René Temmink, a UEFA match official who takes charge of top European club matches, blew the final whistle early at a domestic game in the Netherlands because of racist chanting. "We believe that these referees acted in the proper fashion," said Gaillard. "They are the ones who can stop a game for any reason."

Players' anger
Players have also threatened to walk off the field as a result of racist conduct among spectators. However, the UEFA communications director feels that the referees, and not the players, should rule on matters such as this. "We would not encourage players to take the rules into their hands," Gaillard reflected. "Because this could encourage all kinds of deviant behaviour that would not be in the interests of the game."

Next steps
Such issues may be up for discussion later this year. "We would like to have an anti-racism conference probably in southern Europe this autumn," concluded Gaillard. "That could mean that two years from now, the next step would be the same kind of conference in eastern Europe."

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