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Back Youth showed red card to hate speech and say ‘Block the hatred. Share the love!’

FFM CHILDREN'S LEAGUE COMMITTED TO COMBAT DISCRIMINATION IN SPORTS

A raising awareness event for youth, families, parents and supporters was organised within the framework of the joint European Union and the Council of Europe campaign "Block the hatred. Share the love!". This time, the campaign landed in the football fields of Skopje, in co-operation with the Macedonian Football Federation.

Conceived as a playful initiative, to bring sport youngsters closer to diversity issues, the event’s main aim was to raise awareness among young people about different forms of hate speech, as well as to promote ways of fighting hatred especially in sports and football.

The event was also an opportunity for young people and supporters to express what equality means to them, by writing messages of love against hate speech, showing there is no place for hatred in football, but for healthy competition, support, love and fair play. The message of acceptance and respect for diversity was conveyed during football matches, where visitors had the opportunity to learn about the campaign and its efforts to combat hate speech in sports and everyday life across the Western Balkans.

The main message was delivered by Blagoja Milevski, the head coach of the Macedonian A football team and one of the No Hate Speech Ambassadors, who unreservedly expressed his support for this campaign.

„Our game brings together people from different ethnicities and religions. Football means building friendships, equality, promotion of healthy lifestyle and sport culture. I am encouraging all young and adult people to be actively involved in the campaign and to share the message of this project for promotion of friendship and equality on the football fields, as well as in everyday life.”

Steffen Hudolin, Head of Cooperation in the EU Delegation to Skopje, emphasised the importance of sport and football and its influence on young people. “Football is a unifying force and hate speech has no place in a sport that promotes respect and celebration of achievements and diversity. The EU continues to strongly support the efforts to combat hate speech, as well as promotion of positive values and the spirit of fair-play and tolerance. Today I am glad to be joying and supporting the message to Block the Hatred and Share the Love!”

Lejla Dervisagic, Head of Operations of the Council of Europe Programme Office in Skopje stressed that sport brings people together and it contributes to their health and happiness, tearing down barriers and building trust and community spirit. “For over four decades, the Council of Europe has advocated fair play and respect in sport. “Block the hatred. Share the love is a joint effort of the Council of Europe and European Union to support the fight against hate speech. We are very happy that today we are joining forces with the Football Federation that has supported the campaign since its launch to jointly send messages against hatred and hate speech in football and in everyday life. It is very important that today we are sharing messages that love, fair play and respect are the values that we need on and off the football field”, said Lejla Dervisagic.

Additionally, Filip Popovski, the General Secretary of FFM supported the event to spread positive messages about the impact of sports and football on future generations.

"Football is a great platform for sending positive messages. By initiating activities for raising awareness for a higher level of tolerance on football fields and outside of them, a message is sent to fans, and especially young people, about the harmful effects of hate speech and intolerance. Sincere thanks to the European Union and the Council of Europe for the initiative and support in organising this campaign. The Football Federation is always open for cooperation with all organisations and institutions that give their support to the promotion of real values and want to contribute to fair play and a positive atmosphere on and off the field."

The “Block the hatred. Share the love!” campaign aims to raise awareness of various forms of hate speech targeting specific communities and individuals in the Macedonian society, and ways of combatting it. The campaign involves prominent public figures, public institutions and human rights activists, who are promoting diversity and equality in the local communities and wider in the region.

The campaign is implemented within the action “Promotion of diversity and equality in North Macedonia”, that is a part of joint European Union and Council of Europe programme "Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Turkey 2019-2022".