Flashback: 2020 Tokyo Olympics-held in 2021 due to the pandemic. Paola Egonu is chosen as the Olympic flag bearer; a controversy immediately erupts in Italy, criticising the IOC’s choice as not representative of Italy and a choice driven by political correctness. A similar controversy rages on the eve of the Paris 2024 Olympics over the French-Malian singer Aya Nakamura who will perform at the Olympics ceremony. Considering the recently concluded European Football Championship, one might mention the tweet of Katrin Goring-Eckardt, vice-president of the Bundestag in Germany, who commented on the German national team that had beaten Hungary in a match as follows: “This team is truly outstanding. Just think if there were only white players.”
This is nothing new. Racism has been crossing the sports world in various forms for some time now. There have been many episodes at the centre of public debate, such as the latest one involving Italian A Series Football Teams with the Juan Jesus-Acerbi case. Many stories manage to emerge thanks to the spotlight on elite sport, allowing the public to reflect on the role discrimination plays in the world of sport and how to counter it. But what happens when it is an athlete from a small sports club in a – for example – provincial context who experiences an episode of racism?
There is still too much silence about racism in the world of grassroots sports. Grassroots sport is the place where many athletes come from, and often find themselves having to give it up precisely because of discrimination. From stories like these Stop Racism, not the game!, a campaign created as part of the Monitora project, starts today.
The campaign aims to encourage people to report, monitor and take effective action against racism. Video testimonials, dissemination posts and three video challenges on the very three issues mentioned above will characterise the first part of the campaign that will accompany the period of the Olympics.
The second part of the campaign will focus more on the MONITORA online training course. Indeed, after extensive research work culminating in the National and European Reports, and the development of national trainings, the free online training Monitoring Racism in Grassroots Sport will be online in September to further socialise practices to counter racism in sport. The second part of the Stop Racism, not the Game! campaign will provide information about the course, how to access it, and much more.
The campaign, launched today July 16, will run until September 24 through the social media of Lunaria APS, lead association of the Monitora project, and the other European project partners LIIKKUKAA, Stop Racism in Sport, UISP Aps, United for Intercultural Action, ISCA.
The project Monitora – Monitoring Racism in sports is supported by the Erasmus + program
