Combating hate speech in Sport

“Combating Hate Speech in Sport”, a new joint project co-funded by the European Union and the Council of Europe and implemented by the Council of Europe aims to explore innovative approaches to tackle racism, homo-bi-transphobia, sexism and other manifestations of hate speech.

Although both the European Union and the Council of Europe have developed regulatory frameworks in the field of hate speech prevention, sports events are still far too often the theatre of ominous scenes of racism, homo-bi-transphobia, sexism and other manifestations of hate. Moreover, such occurrences can degenerate into physical violence, often resulting in the disruption of sports events, leading to a further spread of on- and offline hate speech, violence and discrimination.

Public authorities and sports organisations face major challenges when trying to address this phenomenon. Key stakeholders (such as supporters’ organisations) are rarely involved in the discussion and often there is not enough cooperation between public authorities, the various competent bodies in this area and sports organisations.

This is why “Combating Hate Speech in Sport” will provide technical assistance and specific training to public authorities in member states and other sport stakeholders to develop comprehensive hate speech prevention strategies within a human rights framework. The project will also involve supporters, parents, referees, athletes and coaches with the help of ad hoc awareness-raising campaigns and initiatives.

The launch conference of the project took place on May 31 in Strasbourg. Rosario Coco, Outsport Project Coordinator was also present, underlining the urgency of tackling homo-bi-transphobic and sexist behaviours which have been disregarded for too long.

It’s a wrap! The launch event of “Combating Hate Speech in Sport” brought together representatives of national and international institutions and organisations, as well as athletes, coaches, referees advocating for respect in sport #SportSpreadsRespect #CoE4Sport @coe @EuSport pic.twitter.com/UYtKmiLn00
— Council of Europe Sport (@CoE_Sports) May 31, 2022

“Combating Hate Speech in Sport” will last until December 2023 and will take into account the findings of the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) country monitoring reports, the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights, existing Council of Europe texts and studies of the Directorate of Anti-Discrimination and the legacy of the No Hate Speech Movement Youth Campaign.

AICS LGBTI and Outsport are confident that this project will have a positive impact also on the LGBTIQ sports movement in Italy.

#SportSpreadsRespect

For further information, please visit the following link