Launched across the Premier League match week between 16 and 24 October, the league, its clubs and players launched a ‘No Room For Racism’ initiative which urged fans to continue to challenge and report discriminatory behaviour whenever and wherever they see it.
The campaign, developed for the Premier League by agency FCB Inferno, sought to remind supporters that they have a crucial role to play in fighting discrimination. It was spearheaded by a hero video reinforcing the message that there’s no place for racist abuse and fans should fight it be reporting it.
The campaign, which spans TV and social media, reminds supporters of the introduction of league sanctions at the beginning of the 2021/22 season means that anyone found guilty of racist abuse – whether it occurs in and around stadiums or online – will be permanently banned from all Premier League grounds.
Further supporting the Premier League’s long-term focus on eliminating racism in football and across society, first-team stars have also help create a new suite of education resources available for all UK primary and secondary schools.
These new educational resources complement and add to the existing library of ‘No Room For Racism’ teaching materials which feature players – including Joel Matip (Liverpool FC), Christian Kabasele (Watford FC) and Nathan Ferguson (Crystal Palace FC) – participating in discussions with youngsters in club community programmes talking about themes like online abuse, allyship and taking the knee.
The tool kit, which explores heritage, discrimination and allyship, are all available for free to more than 18,000 primary schools across England and Wales through Premier League Primary Stars and they are also available for home use, while kids on the League’s ‘Kicks’ and ‘Inspires’ programmes also have access to them via community-run sessions.
For further information on the ‘No Room For Racism’ action plan and the education resources and for guidance on how to report racism, the creative encourages fans to visit its bespoke site here.
“The Premier League and our clubs are fully committed to fighting racism. Unfortunately, we are reminded far too frequently that there is more to be done,” commented Premier League chief executive Richard Masters. “We will do all we can to ensure action is taken, making it clear there is no place for racial prejudice in football and wider society. We will not stand for it in our grounds and we will continue to work with our clubs and the authorities to make sure players, managers, their families and others do not have to experience online hate. We urge fans to join us and show their support by challenging and reporting any form of racist behaviour, wherever and whenever they see it.”
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These rules came with enhanced training for matchday stewards to better equip staff at grounds to respond to discriminatory abuse and to gather evidence which leads to bands for perpetrators.
The campaign is part of the Premier League’s ongoing commitment to work alongside clubs, fans, players, sponsors, media partners, national bodies, local organisations and the government to tackle in-stadium and online hate.
Since 2019, the league has been proactively monitoring social media platforms and has reported thousands of items of abusive content to social media companies for removal.
Plus, through its online reporting system, Premier League supports any club staff, players, managers, fans and their families who receive discriminatory abuse. Indeed, a dedicated team has been set up to investigate individual cases to identify perpetrators, with legal action taken when required.
Earlier in 2021 the Premier League launched its ‘No Room For Racism’ action plan: outlining a series of commitments to promote equality, diversity and inclusion and provide positive coaching, executive and player pathways for people from black and mixed heritage backgrounds.
This followed on from last year’s October 2020 ‘No Room For Racism’ campaign.
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