'Fighting racism is No1 priority'

By Adam Szreter in Bratislava

UEFA's director of communications and public affairs, William Gaillard, has underlined the role football has to play in the fight against racism at a conference in Bratislava, staged by the Football Against Racism in Europe (FARE) organisation.

Hand in hand
At a press conference for local media Gaillard stressed the fact that football alone cannot solve the issue but that it must work hand in hand with organisations such as FARE, one of UEFA'a main portfolio partners. "Fighting against racism in football is UEFA's No1 priority in our social objectives," Gaillard said. "We are not going to solve the racism problem just by acting in football, but through football we can reach sectors of the population that may be prone to racist behaviour that otherwise would not be reached.

'Discrimination and violence'
"All societies go through a denial stage and for decades in football we denied to ourselves that there was a problem. But it exists in every society so we are not pointing the finger at any one country. In some places it's a question of skin colour, in others it's religion which can generate as much discrimination and violence as discrimination based on the colour of skin.

Raising awareness
"You have probably heard of the measures UEFA has taken in terms of support for organisations like FARE, and sanctions for supporters or teams that behave in a racist way. But sanctions are not half as important as education and this is why we are supporting the work of organisations like FARE. Conferences like this go a long way towards developing awareness of the phenomenon of racism."

Refs can halt matches
Gaillard also warned that there may be more instances of referees calling a halt to matches if racist abuse persists. "The referee has the power, within the rules of the game, that if the conditions are not right for the game to be played - and this ranges from the weather to crowd behaviour - he can stop the game. We don't think it would be a good idea for the players to take the matter in their own hands, but the referee certainly has the authority to do that."

'Series of incidents'
Kurt Wachter, of the Austrian organisation FairPlay, spoke on behalf of colleagues representing 20 nations from all over Europe who had gathered for two days of seminars and discussion in the Slovakian capital. "We as anti-racist campaigners are very busy at the moment," he said. "Only this season we have seen a series of incidents in Spain, Italy, France, Hungary, Greece, the Czech Republic and the Netherlands, only to mention the major incidents. All these countries are major football countries.

'Intensifying efforts'
"It might be argued that this increase in football-related incidents is because of the fact that more incidents are reported, because the media, the football administrators and the fans are more aware of the problem. Nevertheless we are still faced with racism in the game, the exclusion of ethnic minorities and migrants, and no matter how much has been done, it is not enough. FARE's role is to make sure the problem is not swept under the carpet, and from this conference we hope to send out a powerful message to intensify efforts to rid the game of the evil of racism."

Difficulties faced
The conference itself began with messages from UEFA and the Slovak Football Association, as well as from Pedro Velásquez-Hernández of the European Commission for Education and Culture, whose commissioner, Ján Figel of Slovakia, will close the conference on Saturday with an address to the delegates. Club and FA spokesmen from the Czech Republic and Serbia and Montenegro revealed the difficulties faced in countries that are only just beginning to be aware of the size of the problem, while representatives of Slovakia's Roma minority were warmly received.

Racism's different faces
Workshops on Friday addressed issues including education, campaigning, sexism, homophobia and anti-semitism, while Saturday's agenda will include a comparison of fan cultures in Eastern and Western Europe, and the different faces of racism.