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1. IntroductionThis study examines whether discrimination is still a major barrier preventingyoung people in Europe from participating in sport. The King BaudouinFoundation (KBF) commissioned Schwery Consulting – a social enterpriseworking in the field of sport and social responsibility with a specific focuson eastern Europe – to carry out this study, which was conducted betweenJuly 2012 and March 2013 in 11 European countries.1.1 Objectives of the study1.1. Objectives of the studyIn the past seven years, the KBF has allocatedsignificant funds raised by the “Stand Up,Speak Up” (SUSU) campaign to initiatives andprojects aimed at combating racism in sport.The Mulier Institute, the Centre for Researchon Sports in Society, was tasked with conductinga baseline study to establish guidelinesand identify relevant experts and organisationsin eight western European countries.That report was published in 2005. 1The present study differs from the 2005report in several respects. The objective ofthis study was to look at whether racism andother forms of discrimination are still amajor barrier preventing children and youngadolescents from participating in sport. Inaddition to discrimination based on race, religion,ethnicity and nationality, we also lookedat gender-based discrimination.It has been observed that people typicallyreduce physical activity at transitional pointsin their lives. One of the most critical periodsin a young person’s life is puberty. There isample evidence that physical activity declinessignificantly during these years, even morefor girls than for boys. As a result, we decidedto focus our study on young people betweenthe ages of 10 and 14, despite the methodologicalchallenges that working with this agegroup could potentially pose.Given the popularity and impact of footballin Europe, there was a particular focus onthat sport – but without disregarding othersports, which could potentially differ considerablyas regards discriminatory barriers.Discrimination can occur at various levels; westudied it from the point of entry in terms ofaccess to sports facilities (“access”), to havingthe opportunity to join a club (“membership”),and finally to active promotion and supportwithin the club (“promotion”).In selecting the countries to study, prioritywas given to those with existing project experience,2 taking care to ensure that all of thevarious European regions were representedin the survey. Eastern Europe was especiallycritical, given that there was hardly any previousproject experience that we could draw on.The following countries were selected andgrouped accordingly:1Sterkenburg, Jacco van; Janssens, Jan; Rijnen, Bas (eds.) (2005), Football and Racism. An inventory ofthe problems and solutions in eight West European countries in the framework of the Stand Up Speak Upcampaign, Mulier Institute, Arko Sports Media, Nieuwegein.2Following racist incidents in European football in 2004, a campaign was launched under the slogan“Stand Up, Speak Up”. In addition to raising awareness, the campaign raised money for projects combatingracism in sport. Since its launch, more than 240 projects in 12 countries have been supported.DISCRIMINATION IN SPORTKING BAUDOUIN FOUNDATION1