UNESCO AND TOP SPANISH SOCCER CLUB CAMPAIGN AGAINST RACISM IN SPORT

UNESCO AND TOP SPANISH SOCCER CLUB CAMPAIGN AGAINST RACISM IN SPORT New York, Jun 3 2008 3:00PM The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (<"http://portal.unesco.org/en/ev.php-URL_ID=42640&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html">UNESCO) today launched a Europe-wide campaign aimed at combating violence and racism in sport.

The campaign is backed by the Spanish football club FC Barcelona, the European Parliament and the European Coalition of Cities Against Racism (ECCAR), the agency said in a press statement issued today in Paris, its headquarters.

"It is more urgent than ever to rid stadiums of the scourge of racism," said Marcio Barbosa, Deputy Director-General of UNESCO. "The very definition of sport is based on fair play and exchange. Young people are the natural torch-bearers of this message, and we are looking to them to play a key role in making it heard and understood at all levels of society."

"Racism distorts football and sports in general," said Joan Laporta, President of FC Barcelona. "Our objective is to support youth in finding solutions against racism in cities, and we believe that the stadium is the right place to start."
2008-06-03 00:00:00.000

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