Using educational training to combat racism in soccer

The German Football Association (DFB), together with the North East German Football Association (NOFV) and Maccabi Germany, has ended the pilot project launched three years ago to combat racism in soccer. "If we don't solve the challenges, at some point we will no longer play or watch soccer as we are used to," said NOFV President Hermann Winkler at Berlin's An der Alten Försterei stadium, where the results were presented. "We are trying to create structures for several district associations and raise awareness of the issue."

Enabling clubs to become multipliers

The project, under the motto "Football time is the best time against racism", was aimed at amateur clubs in the NOFV pilot region. "We need to raise awareness of the issue so that we can empower the clubs to become multipliers in the fight against racism," said project manager Patrick Bonacker, team leader for club development at the DFB.

Educational training sessions were offered in the clubs to approach the topic on the pitch rather than lecturing from above in a training room. "Initially, it was also about finding out whether this would work to reach the target group on the pitch," said Bonacker.

Not limited to football

According to those responsible, 1,169 amateur representatives in 165 clubs were reached and 75 measures were implemented. Almost 90 percent of participants felt more competent in dealing with racism as a result of the measures.

In view of the DFB's more than six million members and two to three million spectators in the lower leagues, DFB Vice President Ronny Zimmermann still sees a long way to go. "We have to keep the topic permanently on the agenda and must not let up," said Zimmermann, who also wants to recommend the project to the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) and involve schools.

Project to be rolled out nationwide

The DFB is now planning to "roll out the project nationwide", as Bonacker said. The initial experiences he and his team have made should help: "We will take a holistic approach to the entire topic of anti-discrimination."

In addition to acquiring funding, a lot of manpower will also have to be committed to making representations to associations and clubs. A mammoth task that Bonacker hopes to have completed "next year at best".