Conference: Fighting Racism and Creating Gender Equity in European Football

The expansion of football/soccer has coincided with an increase in the different types of people who play the game. Women and Players of Color now occupy a very prominent position in the sport. Increased diversity has been received with enthusiasm by many, while others have been less receptive to inclusivity. Part of the challenge of diversity is understanding the different stakeholders in the sport and how they understand questions of inclusion. Clearly, one important stakeholder group are the players and another group are the fans, in particular, younger people and others who represent future fans and consumers. Their cultural attitudes, their politics and their expectations will play a major role in which clubs and organizations receive support and which do not.  

To address questions of equity, the Global Sports Initiative at Harvard University, Lilian Thuram and the Lilian Thuram Foundation will convene a three-day conference with Nottingham Forest Football Club to address questions of racial and gender equity in European football. The conference will feature four-sessions on each day and will include a variety of practitioners and scholars.

During the sessions, the conference will bring together some of the most famous former Players of Color, such as Lilian Thuram, Thierry Henry, Christian Karembeu and Clarence Seedorf and other allies such as Robert Pires to discuss ways to confront racism, to learn about athlete advocacy and to affect change in this area. This gathering represents the first undertaking of this kind. We will also have a Hollywood director, Kyndra Kennedy, film the players on what racism has done to them. The film will serve as powerful evidence of the conference’s anti-racism platform and will be distributed as a documentary film at some point.

The third day of the conference will be dedicated to understanding the history, the growth and the challenges of women’s football. These sessions will bring together scholars, players, industry people and supporters to present research, to discuss experiences and to provide suggestions on how to move forward. Emphasis will be on what are the best practices for different stakeholder groups and on how different interests can more effectively work together.