Kick It Out speaks at sport and discrimination conference

Thursday 16 Apr 2015
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Kick It Out, football’s equality and inclusion organisation, spoke at the Sport and Discrimination Conference 2015, held at the London Campus of the University of Sunderland.

The conference was held on Friday 1 May and aimed to provide a forum for discrimination faced by people today. The conference also sought to discover what these forms of discrimination are and how best they can be understood and tackled.

Kick It Out spoke as part of a panel discussion on discrimination, answering questions from the audience and from social media.

There were keynote speeches from Dr Daniel Burdsey and Dr Jayne Caldwell, both from the University of Brighton, while there were also presentations from an international range of experts.

Anna Jӧnsson, Reporting Officer at Kick It Out said: “The conference was a great opportunity to meet respected names from academia and anti-discrimination and the chance to speak at it allowed Kick It Out to influence the wider discussion and lead the debate, as we have done in football for over 20 years.”

The conference was curated by Dr Daniel Kilvington and Dr John Price, both of the University of Sunderland. The pair have published research on discrimination within sport for a number of years, working alongside two others to publish Race, Racism and Sports Journalism in 2012. In 2014, they co-authored the book Sport, Racism and Social Media which looked at the causes of online racism and highlighted examples of social media racism in football, cricket, boxing, ice hockey, and basketball, as well as offering solutions regarding challenging racism on social network sites.

Hayley Bennett, Education Officer at Kick It Out said: “The conference was a great opportunity for those involved and Kick It Out to share their expertise about how best to tackle discrimination in sport. We were delighted to be involved and enjoyed meeting and hearing from like-minded people who are challenging discrimination.

“We are engaging more and more with educational institutions and academia as we aim to engage all aspects of football, including those who study the game and its place in society.”

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"We have a responsibility as players to give something back and I’m really thankful to be part of this organisation because we can do a lot of good."
Jack Butland, 'Next 20' Ambassador
“A big part of my involvement with Kick It Out stems from my strong admiration for the organisation’s commitment to fairness and equality.”
Clive Tyldesley, football commentator
“It was Kick It Out that convinced the people in football that change was possible.”
Greg Dyke, former FA chairman
“I wanted to thank the campaigners at Kick It Out for their work. I know first-hand how Kick It Out can help.”
Yaya Toure, Manchester City midfielder
“It is important for me in my role as a Kick It Out ‘Next 20’ ambassador to teach young people how to handle discrimination and treat people with respect.”
Romelu Lukaku, 'Next 20' Ambassador
“It is a massive honour for me to be an ambassador for such a great organisation. I think they do great work on and off the field.”
Toni Duggan, 'Next 20' Ambassador
"It really helped me to see that other professional sports people were acknowledging their sexuality. I read about John Amaechi, Gareth Thomas and Tom Daley. They weren't footballers but the fact that they went public gave me the feeling that I was not alone."
Thomas Hitzlsperger, former Aston Villa midfielder
"There was no conflict between religion and the fact that I wanted to play football. I was brought up correctly and in the right way and my parents are very proud of the fact that I am a professional footballer."
Sadio Mané, Liverpool winger
“I think it’s important to share success stories and realise that there are women operating in the game. If it’s something you want to do, you can do it.”
Ffion Eade, Hampshire FA referee
"I've had loads of negative comments from men, especially growing up. It's just boring and old. Times have changed, and they continue to change. Women play football, and they're good at it, and have been for a number of years.”
Kelly Smith, England Women's record goalscorer
"Despite the progress, stereotypes still exist in football and until that is broken down it will be extremely difficult for a woman to manage a top level men's team."
Rachel Yankey, former Arsenal Ladies forward
"There’s no hiding that there is sexism in sport. We have a lack of women right across all levels of management, playing and coaching. It shows the closed nature of sport in general and this includes the media. It’s an indictment of sport as a whole."
Rimla Akhtar, Kick It Out trustee and Chair of the Muslim Women’s Sports Foundation
“I’m proud to be a supporter of Kick It Out and particularly the work they are doing to combat antisemitism within football.”
Joe Jacobson, Wycombe Wanderers midfielder
"With Kick It Out leading the way football is standing up and fighting against those who preach hatred and intolerance and we at Chelsea are proud to support their work."
Bruce Buck, Chelsea Football Club Chairman

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