Sports organisersGood Practice■ Minimaxi Football League,SerbiaAs a way of trying to overcomediscrimination in team sports,the Football Association of Serbiahas come up with a unique initiative.The MFL is a grassrootsfootball league for children whichrequires all stakeholders (players,coaches, managers and parents)to follow a code of conduct. Forinstance, if parents don’t obeythe code of conduct, the refereecan stop the game and send theperpetrator away from the pitch.If the person does not complywith that request, the game ends.www.mini-maxi.orgSports clubs are often young children’s first point of contact with sport.Many children participate in organised sports activities long before they enrolat school. Research has shown that positive experiences early in life increasethe probability of lifelong physical activity. 461Develop a coachingcurriculum focusing ondiversity and inclusionCoaches must get the necessary training toensure that they do not discriminate. Trainingshould be provided by organisations that haveexperience of identifying various cultural sensitivitiesand are able to teach coaches to providean informative and unprejudiced environmentfor children to learn and develop in.This study has shown that sports clubs areless attractive for:• people from a migrant background;• girls;• people with limited skills.Sports associations and clubs generally focuson the selection and nurturing of talent withno regard for social circumstances. To makeclubs more attractive for ethnic minorities,girls and less skilful children, the developmentof a curriculum with a strong focus ondiversity and inclusion is key.Researchers, NGOs and corporate entitiescan work together to develop coaching modulesthat prescribe activities relevant for diversityand inclusion. The aim is to ensure that achild’s first experience of sport is a positiveone, irrespective of the child’s ethnicity, skincolour, religion, gender or skill level.Leading federations and associations need tosupport the integration of such a curriculuminto existing coaching modules. The mobilecoaching stations set up by the German FootballAssociation – which focus on girls andchildren from migrant backgrounds – are agood example in this regard. However, thecontent must be adaptable in order to respectcultural sensitivities and allow a focus onvarious different minorities. In order to obtainbroad support, modules have to be developedas part of an interactive process involvingkey stakeholders (such as sports’ governingbodies, government ministries, sports clubs,coaches and NGOs).2Establish an inclusive 47code of conduct for allrelevant stakeholdersAll relevant stakeholders in organised youthsport should be included in the process ofpromoting diversity and inclusion. The involvementof children, coaches, referees, parents,managers, etc. can help to identify criticalissues and create a general consensuson the action needed. A code of conductsigned by all groups can help to prevent abuseby establishing clear procedures governingviolations.The process involves the following steps:• identify stakeholders and critical issues;• agree a code of conduct;• sign and publish the code of conduct.Professional football clubs must work with awider range of stakeholders (including nationalassociations, fan clubs, security services,NGOs and local government) to stamp outacts of overt racism and safeguard the progressthat has been made in terms of tacklingthis issue at institutional level.46Nike, Designed to Move: A Physical Activity Action Agenda, 2012.47Here, ‘inclusive’ is used as a synonym to both ‘anti-discrimination’ and ‘diversity and inclusion’.28KING BAUDOUIN FOUNDATIONDISCRIMINATION IN SPORT
3 Promote women and 4 Create equivalents withminorities in coaching anda considerable “fun factor”other leadership positionsfor “at risk” young peopleThe under-representation of women and ethnicminorities in coaching and managementpositions in sport is an issue across Europe.Their involvement at these levels plays a keyrole in garnering respect and helping organisationsto develop inclusive strategies.This will also help to change assumptions,which cement barriers to participation. Enablingthese groups to demonstrate their abilityto perform in sports that are traditionallydominated by white men will benefit sportstructures in countries across Europe.Programmes such as FURD’s coaching modulesfor ethnic minorities and women can helpchildren to identify with such people as rolemodels, dispelling myths such as the notionthat girls are not suited to sport. Intensifyingsuch efforts and covering more sports andregions can help to avoid resorting to strongermeasures, such as quotas.This study has shown that the large majorityof young people today are not racist. A tendencytowards racism in young people isoften a consequence of socialising with a peergroup that is influenced by organised racistgroups. A lack of positive action allows suchtendencies to develop.In such situations, experts advise workingwith perpetrators in face-to-face meetings inorder to identify dissonance between attitudesand behaviour and offer them non-racistalternatives with the same “fun factor”.“The Ball is Colourful” is a successful programmethat started in Germany with the aimof showing how the fight against right-wingextremism can be supported by workshopsand face-to-face meetings. Government supportis critical if such programmes and initiativesare to be a success.Good Practice■ Web portal for ultras,RussiaThe Russian web portal “Offside”attempts to disprove commonpreconceptions about Russianultras. It is visited not only by leftleaningfans, but also by nationalists,whose opinions on the portaloften dispel the myth of considerablepolitical polarisation andantagonism between Europeanultras. The portal shows a morecomplex situation and highlightsthe latest developments in termsof the various ways of supportinga club. In particular, it providesevidence of a growing apoliticalconsensus against racism.www.offside-mag.comDISCRIMINATION IN SPORTKING BAUDOUIN FOUNDATION29
Change language