The world of football declares war on anti-Semitism: matches halted in the event of racist chanting and a ban on wearing the number 88 shirt, these are some of the measures contained in the declaration of intent signed today at the Viminale by Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi , the Minister for Sport and Youth Andrea Abodi , the National Coordinator for the fight against anti-Semitism Giuseppe Pecoraro and the president of the FIGC Gabriele Gravina .
«Today - Piantedosi explained - we finalize a goal that we set ourselves some time ago. There is a lot to do on the subject and we also aim to dispel the doubt that in the world of sport there may be some resistance or resistance on these issues".
A specific disciplinary, it reads, will define «the methods with which, in the event of anti-Semitic chants, acts and expressions, the interruption of football competitions must be immediately ordered, with the simultaneous communication to the public of the reasons for the interruption through a specific announcement made by means of loudspeakers and displays".
Among the measures is the ban on wearing the number 88 shirt , which is the one used by neo-Nazi groups to symbolize the greeting "Heil Hitler" (h is the eighth letter of the alphabet).
Here is the list of planned measures.
- Insert in the Code of Ethics an explicit reference to the definition of anti-Semitism of the IHRA (International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance) and to the inadmissibility of any anti-Semitic attitude or expression by members, members, organized fans, before, during and after the demonstrations sports, providing for an adequate system of sanctions.
- Do not give players the shirt with the number 88, considered an explicit reference to Nazi symbology.
- Prohibit the use by the supporters of any symbol that may recall the concepts relating to Nazism and anti-Semitic hatred.
- Make members of sports clubs responsible for using non-discriminatory language in all
public demonstrations, including during interviews, communications, messages on social media or television comments, immediately and officially distancing oneself from gestures/words/symbols/posts attributable to fringes of the fan base that glorify anti-Semitism.
- Engage members of sports clubs to participate in, support and promote communication campaigns aimed at combating all forms of anti-Semitism, also adopting rewarding initiatives that promote the objective.
- Express immediate solidarity with the victims of anti-Semitic discrimination in stadiums, including through concrete initiatives that testify to the total extraneousness and aversion of sports clubs to these episodes.
- Verify, also through a more structured and significant use of technology, strict compliance with the nominal assignment of seats in stadiums, so as to make it easier to identify those responsible for anti-Semitic demonstrations, providing for sanctions if the responsible company does not take adequate action so that during the entire course of the matches the spectators keep their assigned seats.
- Strengthen the video surveillance system and stewarding services both inside and near sports facilities, especially in places where there have been episodes of anti-Semitism.
- Provide that the sanctions inflicted on sports clubs for anti-Semitic episodes that occur during sporting events are also valid in subsequent championships, not only in order to avoid the prescription but having as effect - in the event of recidivism - the tightening of the penalty itself.
- Enhance the proactive behavior of sports clubs for the purpose of punctual observance of the decalogue in any decisions concerning the application of sanctions envisaged for episodes of anti-Semitism.
- Organise, in collaboration with clubs and leagues, visits to the Shoah Memorial in Milan (Binario 21) or to other places commemorating the Shoah, in Italy and abroad, for representatives of organized supporters and members of the sports clubs, in order to raise awareness of the historical event of the deportation of the Jews and to raise awareness on the issue of anti-Semitism.
- Promote, in collaboration with the specialized media and social network platforms, communication initiatives on the subject of anti-Semitism, even those not linked to contingent episodes of intolerance.
(Unioneonline/L)
