Sports minister backs drive for equality
Kick It Out will celebrate the culmination of its One Game, One Community weeks of action at the Houses of Parliament on Tuesday 14th December.
Minister for Sport and the Olympics, Hugh Robertson MP, will host the event and join figures from football’s authorities alongside grass roots figures from across the country to look back on the game’s most prominent community engagement initiative, which took place this October.
The campaign’s Annual Report will also be launched, profiling all areas of Kick It Out’s educational and community sectors work.
Lord Herman Ouseley, Chair of Kick It Out said:
“Kick It Out, has made huge strides in the past 16 years, thanks in no small part from all the game’s key authorities joining us in a collective effort to root out unacceptable behaviour.
“We must not become complacent. The rise of the far right in the form of the English Defence League and other similar extremist organisations, gives us cause for concern. The next step in our journey is to meet these challenges and those posed on the continent in places like eastern Europe, where racism in football is still alive and well.”
“Our considerable work in classrooms across the country, coupled with engagement of some, means our work will carry considerable significance into the new decade.”
Hugh Robertson MP commented:
“Whether it’s as a spectator or participating, football is a game that must be open to all regardless of skin colour or ethnicity. This is not political correctness. It is simple common sense in modern Britain.
“I applaud the important work Kick It Out has done with the One Game, One Community initiative, to bring people together in diverse communities up and down the country. However there is still more that can be done. I want to see better representation for ethnic minorities at all levels in the game as I do right across the sporting landscape.”
