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The European Gay and Lesbian Sports Federation (EGLSF) today condemned comments made by Vlatko Markovic , President of the Croatian Football Federation in an interview with Croatian national daily Vecernji List. Mr Markovic remarked that there was no place for gay players on the national side, stating "While I'm a president of the Croatian Football Federation, there will be no homosexuals playing in the national team," Mr Pepe Garcia Vazquez, Co-president of the EGLSF, an organisation representing over 17,000 lesbian gay bisexual and trans (LGBT) athletes across Europe says of the comment: “We are appalled by Mr Markovic’s statement, which [...]

The EGLSF’s focus of the 11th edition of the FARE Action week has been Challenging homophobia in football. In Football, the denial and invisibility of homosexuality are serious expressions of homophobia, this includes the silence of fans, players, coaches, clubs, and associations. When the opposing team or the referee is called “gay” most people aren’t aware that this is abusive. Homophobia and sexism are often understood as being part of the culture of football. EGLSF believes that central to the work of all sports organisations should be the desire to create an atmosphere of acceptance of gay men and lesbians [...]

This season’s FARE Action Week against Racism and Discrimination in European has been the 11th Action Week to take place, and was held between October 14 and 26 2010 in 42 countries accross the continent. Following the Call for Action which closed mid-September FARE received more than 200 applications for small grants from grassroots groups from all corners of Europe. FARE provided financial support for more than 130 actions and initiatives and many more groups are receiving free campaign material including t-shirts, antiracism captain’s armbands, stickers, flags and posters. This year the official poster carried the slogan ‘Football for Equality’, [...]

In France, after the meetings with the national Ministry of Sport, chaired by the Secretary of Sport Mrs Rama Yade, the participating parties agreed on a national charter against homophobia in sports. On October 23, the French Rugby League was the first national federation to officially sign the charter: The national sports federations and associations, the leagues, clubs, associations, public institutions or other bodies that sign the present charter are committed to: 1. Explicitly recognize and homophobia as a form of discrimination contrary to the universal principles of the protection of human rights. 2. Repudiate and take appropriate sanctions against [...]

The European Gay and Lesbian Sports Federation is pleased to announce its “Football for Equality” grants programme in the framework of the FARE Action Week 2010. This is a grants programme of up to €1,000 for projects working to tackle homophobia in football, in which: • Action is directly linked to anti-homophobia in football • Action takes place between 14 - 26 October 2010 • The activity directly involves LGBT people • The applicant is a grass-root organisation (EGLSF member organisations, fan groups, NGOs, amateur teams) • The activity should pay attention to gender-equality Deadline for application is October 5, [...]