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2. Discrimination in sportbased on race, religion,ethnicity and nationalityDiscrimination based on race, religion, ethnicity and nationality (henceforthgrouped together and referred to as “racism”) continues to be awidespread phenomenon in Europe. 4the fact that there is still a lot of ground to cover.1.1 Objectives of the studyAccording to a 2010 AmnestyInternational report on human rights, the economic downturn has ledto a rise in discrimination, racism and xenophobia in Europe. 5Racismmanifests itself both (i) institutionally, in schools and sports clubs, and (ii)overtly, in stadiums and other places where sports fans meet. Even inregions where robust measures are in place to combat racism, andwhere expert NGOs focusing on the issues are backed by both publicand private support, high-profile racist incidents still arise, reinforcingBackground information■ Overt versus institutionalracismOvert racism: that which isconsciously carried out in publicplaces, which intends to damageor harm those on the receivingend.Institutional racism: any kindof system of inequality based onrace. It can occur in institutionssuch as public government bodies,private business corporations,and schools (public and private).The majority of young peopleare not racist …The survey asked young people about theirattitudes towards other ethnic groups. It showedthat the majority of young people inEurope today are not racist. Four out of fivechildren surveyed have friends with a differentskin colour. More than 80% think that“it is good to have players with different skincolours on the same football team”, andthere is no disparity between boys and girlsregarding this attitude (Chart 2.01).Although there are regional differences, wecan see that racism is a marginal phenomenonin schools. The survey also showed that81% of girls and 75% of boys are capable ofspotting racist incidents during a footballmatch and regard them as “unfair”. Only 9%of children regard them as “fair” (see Chart4.07 for regional differences).A tendency towards racism in young people isoften a consequence of socialising with apeer group that is influenced by organisedracist groups. In these circumstances, a lackof positive action allows such tendencies todevelop. One expert said: “We often observecontradictions between their ‘racist’ behaviourand their environment.” 6 For instance,they may have friends with different skincolours, but can be seen joining in with racistchants at the stadium. In such situations,experts recommend working with them faceto-facein order to identify dissonance betweenattitudes and behaviour and offer them nonracistalternatives with the same “fun factor”.4European Network Against Racism (2013), Recycling Hatred: Racism(s) in Europe Today.A Dialogue between Academics, Equality Experts and Civil Society Activists, Brussels, February.5Amnesty International (2010), The State of the World’s Human Rights.6Interview with Reinhard Koch, German project officer, “The Ball is Colourful”, 2 October 2012.DISCRIMINATION IN SPORTKING BAUDOUIN FOUNDATION7