EURO anti-racism drive

One of the key messages at UEFA EURO 2008™ will be the fight against racism and intolerance in football.

Basel reception
UEFA's partner in the campaign, Football Against Racism in Europe (FARE) is looking forward with the European football body to a tournament where messages against racism, discrimination and for more respect will be prominent as well as activities to engage fans. The initiative at the UEFA European Championships this summer will be headlined Unite Against Racism. The programme which has been developed in close partnership with UEFA, will be launched at an opening day reception on Saturday 7 June, at the Hilton Hotel in Basel.

Unite against racism
The Unite Against Racism campaign at UEFA EURO 2008™ is carried out by FARE network in partnership with UEFA and with support of the international players union FIFPro. Senes Erzik, UEFA first vice-president, will lead the involvement of the football family together with other prominent players, non-government organisations and fans. Also in attendance in Basel will be Benedikt Weibel, delegate of the Swiss Federal Council for UEFA EURO 2008™, Barbara Prammer, President of the Austrian National Council and FairPlay-vidc (FARE). England goalkeeper David James, who was an FA Cup winner with Portsmouth FC this month, will be on the panel.

TV spot
Over the three weeks of the event the Unite Against Racism activities will feature a specially commissioned TV spot shown at all matches, pitch-side advertising boards with the "No to Racism" message at every game as well as branded captain's armbands. Every ticket will feature a Unite Against Racism message, and "Unite Against Racism" will appear on stewards' bibs as well as substitute players' bibs. The campaign will reach its climax at the semi-finals in Vienna and Basel, where the four team captains will deliver an anti-racism message to be beamed into homes across the world.

Streetkick
Outside of the stadiums, the 'StreetKick' game will tour five host cities with fans and ethnic minority communities taking part. To support this, FARE will use its expertise with a series of monitors at games. A multilingual hotline will be advertised alongside an email address to report racism and discrimination. FARE has also been working with Football Supporters International (FSI) in a UEFA-backed partnership to develop activities for travelling supporters to Austria and Switzerland. Fans' Embassies will be set up in key areas of each host city and there will be major information and meeting points for fans throughout the tournament.

Full details in English, German, French and Italian are available on www.FAREnet.org

For further details on the Fans' Embassies programme visit www.fanguide2008.net

Contact details
If you would like to attend the reception or would like more details please contact Gaby Pflügl, FARE coordination at FairPlay-vidc (Vienna), pfluegl@vidc.org
Tel: ++43 1 713 35 9471
Fax: ++43 1 713 35 9473