Kicking racism out of football

UEFA staff and African footballers based in western Switzerland gathered in Nyon on Wednesday night with a clear message – kick racism out of football.

FARE week
The UEFA football team took on the Black-Stars, a team bringing together players from throughout Africa, in a match to mark the Europe-wide week of action organised by the Football Against Racism in Europe (FARE) network.

Black-Stars success
The match, played at the Colovray stadium opposite UEFA's headquarters in Nyon, ended in a 4-0 win for the Black-Stars, who featured footballers from the western Swiss canton of Fribourg playing in the Swiss fourth and fifth divisions.

Uniting people
"Events such as this show that football has an important role, because it unites people from different communities and backgrounds," said Black-Stars coach Yoland Meire. "It's essential that every effort is made to eliminate racist conduct in the game, and that people are made aware all the time of the evils of such conduct.

Football and music
"Football should be like music," he added. "Anyone anywhere can listen to all kinds of music from throughout the world, and football people should be able to watch a match anywhere, whenever they want, without having to face problems on or off the pitch.

Excellent initiative
"This match was an excellent initiative, and shows UEFA's keen interest in promoting fraternity between football enthusiasts from different cultures," said the Swiss Football Association's grassroots head, Charles Rubli, who attended the game.

Full backing
UEFA has given its full backing to the FARE action week, which involves national football associations, professional clubs, fan groups, community and migrant associations, and schools. As a UEFA charity partner, FARE is also receiving significant financial support from European football's governing body. The action week continues until 28 October.

Plan of action
Recent co-operation between UEFA and FARE has included the issuing of a ten-point plan of action to the European football family, containing a series of measures that could be taken to punish racist conduct on and off the pitch.