UEFA and Fare unite to promote diversity and inclusion

Clubs and national teams from throughout Europe have united with UEFA and its social responsibility partner, the Fare network, in an impressive show of support for diversity, inclusion and accessibility in football.

Over the past two weeks, Europe's premium competitions have served as a high-profile platform to transmit the clear message that racism, discrimination and intolerance must be eradicated from the game.

Children wearing #EqualGame T-shirts accompanied the Barcelona and Minsk players onto the pitch for the UEFA Women's Champions League encounter.©UEFA

A total of 98 matches in the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, UEFA Women's Champions League and European Qualifiers were the setting for activities that were part of Fare's #FootballPeople weeks, which took place across the continent between 10 and 24 October. 

Players, clubs, national teams

Children wearing #FootballPeople T-shirts escort the Scotland and San Marino players onto the field for their European Qualifier.©UEFA

Players, clubs and national teams taking part in the four competitions have given sterling support to UEFA and Fare – often using their own communication platforms to raise awareness and to educate through a range of activities. 

Teams lined up for mixed photos with the match referees, while videos were played on giant screens in Europe's stadiums. The hashtag for UEFA's #EqualGame diversity and inclusion campaign was also prominent, and stadium announcements transmitted key messages to thousands of fans.

Children wearing #FootballPeople T-shirts were present in stadiums to help encourage people to embrace the message that discrimination must be a thing of the past.

Long-standing partnership

Children lined up with Borussia Mönchengladbach's players at the UEFA Europa League match against Roma©UEFA

UEFA's close and long-standing partnership with Fare began in 2001. The #FootballPeople weeks are perfectly in tune with the aims of the UEFA #EqualGame campaign launched in 2017, which seeks to promote the ethos that football should be open to everyone. Leading European men's and women's football stars have given their backing to the #EqualGame campaign.

During the #FootballPeople weeks, more than 150,000 people took part in 2,000 events in over 60 countries.