Europe's élite back racism fight

Action week
All 16 UEFA Champions League matches saw children wearing Unite Against Racism t-shirts accompanying players on to the pitch, and special announcements before each match emphasising the anti-racism message.

Special announcement
The UEFA announcement urged fans, players, directors and staff of home clubs "to tackle racism in all it's forms, and to make football stadia across Europe welcoming places for all fans regardless of their colour of skin, ethnic origin or culture".

Racism message
The action was part of the Action Week against racism organised by the pan-European Football Against racism in Europe (FARE) network. FARE used the Champions League platform to communicate the philosophy of the Action Week to the entire European football family, including countries and leagues where racist behaviour and harassment still pose serious problems for football and for society at large.

UEFA support
Earlier this week, UEFA Chief Executive Lars-Christer Olsson underlined UEFA's commitment to the cause, saying: "UEFA is genuinely committed to tackling racism in football. We have seen the damage prejudice and exclusion can cause and will not sit back and watch it spread.

FARE partnership
"Through our close partnership with FARE we believe we have the right mechanism to educate supporters, administrators and players at every level of the game," he added.