The FARE Action Week unites supporters, clubs and those targeted by racism across the continent in a concerted effort to make discrimination a thing of the past. The Action Week of the Football Against Racism in Europe network aims to boost public awareness of the problems of racism and exclusion and to create a united front in dealing with this malign influence on Europe's number one sport.
The idea behind the FARE Action Week is that a wide range of initiatives and activities address local problems within their club or community, while also joining groups across the continent to present a unified stand against racism in the game.
What started as a minor campaign in nine countries in 2001 has now become the largest series of anti-racism activities in sport ever staged. The 2008 Action Week saw a record number of more than 700 events in 37 countries in and around football grounds all over Europe. Europe's top stars are lending support to the campaign. All 32 teams of the UEFA Champions League participated in the “Unite Against Racism” campaign, reaching more than 600,000 fans directly at the matches and millions more via live broadcast on television. The number of participating professional leagues has increased to 14. Also the symbolic activities organised by national FAs and individual clubs are reaching out to more people each year.
Each year the FARE network offers financial support for a range of grass-roots activities to address local problems in football clubs at the community level. With the backing of UEFA the FARE network offers small grants to grass-roots initiatives and provides campaign materials for free. Many more fan groups are organising themselves to challenge racism and the far-right. FARE's long-term focus on the situation in Eastern and Central Europe has led to an increasing numbers of applications in the Balkans, the former Soviet republics and the new EU members such as Poland, Hungary or Romania.
Ignoring racism, is accepting racism – take your stand and join the FARE Action Week from the 15th until the 27th of October 2009!