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4. Regional differences interms of discriminationin sportDiscrimination in sport is a general matter of concern across Europe.Nevertheless, the study showed some major differences between eastern,western and southern European countries. Generally, in western andsouthern countries, the problem is widely recognised and the tools to dealwith it are – with the exception of action to tackle homophobia – already onthe table. In eastern countries, the SUSU campaign has made a significantcontribution in terms of bringing the issue into the mainstream. However,countries in this region have only just begun to tackle discrimination in sport.Good Practice■ “Vienna Meets Balkan”,ViennaThis is an annual internationalyouth tournament in Vienna.Local migrant communities,ethnic minorities, local footballteams and international guestsfrom the western Balkans cometogether once a year to play football,have fun, cement interculturalrelations and take a standagainst racism, nationalism andintolerance. The tournament isorganised in cooperation with thefootball associations of Serbia,Montenegro and Bosnia andHerzegovina, and with the supportof UEFA, VIDC, the King BaudouinFoundation and the city of Vienna.www.footballforequality.orgAcceptance levels for different kindsof discriminationThere are different forms of discrimination,and some are more tolerated in society thanothers. In western Europe, for instance, racismis broadly viewed as a real “injustice”,whereas homophobia is still regarded asless serious. The decision by the Sports Courtof the German Football Association (DFB) toreduce the punishment that one player wasgiven after he appealed on the basis that hisabuse of another player was not racist, “just”homophobic, demonstrates that there aredifferent acceptance levels for different formsof discrimination. 37 In eastern Europe, expertsdistinguish strictly between discriminationbased on race and discrimination based onnational identity.When comparing western and eastern Europeancountries, we have seen major differencesbetween the two in terms of the progressmade with tackling racism and other forms ofdiscrimination.■ “We don’t have racism in Serbia;we just have nationalism.” 38Serbian project officerIn Russia, Poland and Serbia, racism is stilla major issue in football and some othersports. Incidents such as fans of FC ZenitSt Petersburg asking the club not to buyany black players 39 and FIFA punishing theBulgarian and Hungarian football associationsfor racist abuse by their fans at internationalmatches 40 are just some of theexamples that stand out.In eastern Europe, the fight against racism insport has only just begun. Meanwhile, otherforms of discrimination based on nationality,disability and gender are still broadly tolerated.Homophobia remains a legal form ofdiscrimination in Russia. Manifestations of37www.welt.de/sport/article1128786/Schwul-Schwarz-Schwabbel.html.38Interview with Serbian project officer, 15 October 2012.39www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/20770678.40www.fifa.com/aboutfifa/organisation/news/newsid=1982124/index.html.DISCRIMINATION IN SPORTKING BAUDOUIN FOUNDATION21