FIFA was marking its first Anti-Discrimination Day on Sunday 7 July, following an initiative of Vice-President Issa Hayatou (Cameroon) during last year’s FIFA Conference on Racism in Football.
During the conference last year in Buenos Aires, Issa Hayatou had called for an annual reminder of the need to take a firm stand not only against racism but against discrimination of all kinds within football and within society as a whole.
“We should not distinguish between these different forms of discrimination,” the President of the African Football Confederation (CAF) told a recent meeting of the FIFA Committee for Security and Fair Play.
“Football should use its power to combat not only racism but also discrimination because of religion, politics, social status or gender.”
The FIFA President, Joseph S. Blatter, has endorsed the call, saying : “We have just completed a marvellous World Cup that has been enjoyed by more people than ever before.
“These audiences have been a cross-section of the entire world population : of all ethnic origins, men and women, young and old, of varied political or religious backgrounds.
“The one uniting factor has been football. The game has brought together people for a few weeks of harmony with the power that only our game can generate.
“But four weeks is not enough. We have to carry this movement forward, spreading it more widely and convincing others to join us in the effort.”
To mark the Anti-Discrimination Day, FIFA has reiterated the terms of the Resolution that had been adopted at the Buenos Aires Conference.
“The Resolution was drafted within the particular context of the conference on racism,” added FIFA Director of Communications, Keith Cooper. “But the spirit of its philosophy can be adapted and applied to other forms of discrimination, too.
“FIFA is calling upon all confederations, national associations, leagues, clubs and teams, and all other football organisations throughout the world, to take another close look at the Resolution and to ask themselves how they can apply it more effectively in the year ahead.”
