At its meeting on 5-6 June, the Standing Committee that oversees the implementation of the Council of Europe Convention on Spectator Violence discussed measures to prevent and respond to hate speech, racism and discrimination in the context of sport events. Around 70 delegates from 32 member States of the Council of Europe, plus several observer States and sports NGOs attended this meeting, three of them as new observers: the State of Israel, the Centre for Access to Football in Europe (CAFE) and Colour-Blind Awareness.

The debate included an exchange of views with representatives from the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly, the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) and the “No Hate Speech Movement”.

The Ad Hoc Working Group on the preparations of UEFA EURO 2020 held its 6th meeting in Strasbourg on 4 June. Delegations from 11 out of the 12 organising countries were present, together with organisers of previous tournaments, UEFA and EUROPOL.

The next meetings of the Committee and the Ad Hoc Working Group will take place in December, in Strasbourg.