Violence and racism in sport under spotlight 

"Sport is a social activity of crucial importance. It evokes competition and often also emotion and passion, but it should be disconnected from all violence, because one of its greatest benefits is to bring people together, not divide them," said Maud de Boer-Buquicchio, deputy secretary-general of the Council of Europe. 

The Council of Europe is, in the framework of its campaign 'All Different, All Equal' , organising an international conference on 'Sports, Violence and Racism in Europe' on 2-5 April 2007. Workshops and round-table discussions will centre on socio-educative work with fans, the fight against racism, the shared roles of local and regional authorities and of the states in the prevention of violence, the educational role of sport and intercultural dialogue.

The conference aims to provide politicians, government officials and experts, researchers, academics, NGO representatives, sport federations as well as UEFA "an opportunity to compare current practices and evaluate both public authorities and sports organisations' perspectives on the problem of violence in sport". 

The conference falls within the framework of activities of the European Convention on Spectator Violence , adopted in 1985 following the Heysel tragedy, which defines security policy (controlling ticket sales, stadium security), international police co-operation, identification and legal action against offenders (banning them from stadiums) and recommends social and educational measures, such as fan coaching and national sport ambassadors.  

The European Parliament adopted, on 29 March 2007, an own initiative report  concerning security in connection with football matches with an international dimension. The report aims to amend a 2002 Council decision  establishing 'national football information points' of a police nature. The MEPs backed amendments allowing these national information points to have access to personal data on "particular supporters who pose a risk or a high risk to the security of the match".

"In recent years we have seen too much violence, too many manifestations of intolerance and racist and xenopho­bic acts surrounding football matches. All this is changing one of the most loved and watched sports for European people. We need to ban violence from football through prevention, avoiding excessive security in stadiums, helping effective police co-operation, promoting strong cultural action and saving the social character of sport," said Rapporteur Giusto Catania, MEP.