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‘Football is a wonderful thing!’ are the words of legendary footballer and fervent anti racist campaigner, Lilian Thuram, as he addressed the ‘Unite Against Racism’ conference in Warsaw today. Thuram, World Cup winner and current FARE ambassador is one of football’s most articulate voices. He spoke at length about his experiences of racism in football and how collectively, organisations such as FARE and UEFA can make a difference to the footballing landscape across Europe. "We’re all born with prejudices," said Thuram. "I work a lot in schools and talk to the kids. I ask them what they think of black [...]

The European Gay & Lesbian Sport Federation (EGLSF) and the Football Against Racism in Europe (FARE) network in co-operation with the Gay and lesbian Football Fan Club of FC Barcelona Penya Blaugrana de Gais i Lesbianes did hold the first EGLSF Conference Football Against Homophobia in Barcelona. From February 6 to 8, 2009 the meeting did gather gay and lesbian football fan groups from across the continent to discuss the issues facing gay and lesbian football supporters and how they could be tackled. The participating organisations from Austria, England, France, Germany, Ireland, Spain and Switzerland were: Andersrum rut-wiess, Bayer04-junxx, Dublin [...]

FARE, the European anti-discrimination network, has launched an open tender to seek an external consultant who can advise on future development of the network. If you can demonstrate the skills, insight and passion to help, FARE offers you the satisfaction of knowing you will have made your mark in assisting football take on the challenges of fighting discrimination and promoting equality. This opportunity to work closely with football fans, European-wide NGO’s and stakeholders of European football comes as the network looks to ensure it is meeting the needs of all stakeholders, is organised to meet funding commitments, and is identifying [...]

Homosexuality in football is sometimes said to be a taboo subject by both players and the media. From 2008, homophobic chanting at football grounds has been outlawed but the traditions and culture of the game do not exactly breed an environment in which gay players are likely to feel comfortable or thrive. The video embedded from homotopia.tv shows a section from a lively debate held on 3rd November 2008 at Hope University in Liverpool, UK about this topic.

Following several recent cases of homophobia in French football, a meeting was held on 17 December 2008 between the French League, Paris Foot Gay (Association against homophobia in football) and the Inter LGBT (French group promoting the rights of gay, bi, lesbian and transsexual people). This meeting concluded with the following proposals and initiatives: 1) the court cases in relation to the football clubs of Montpellier, Marseille and Lyon (where homophobic incidents have been reported) will be heard by the French Discipline Commission in January 2009; 2) The French League and Paris Foot Gay will organise special events for the [...]