During last weekend the motto in Austrian league football was "No place for discrimination". Now the three Austrian clubs participating in the UEFA club competitions get behind the Action Weeks against racism and discrimination.
On Tuesday, during Austria Wien’s Champions League home match against Atletico Madrid at the Ernst-Happel stadium the message "No to Racism" entered the centre stage. The two captains wearing “Respect - No to Racism" armbands and exchanged a special pennant. During line-up an anti-racism banner was placed in front of the teams. Spectators and fans were urged via tannoy announcements to support the campaign. And on the video wall the new "No to Racism" video spot uniting 22 different stars of European football was shown.
On Thursday, all Europa League teams participate in the largest anti-discrimination campaign on the continent. FC Red Bull Salzburg gets involved during their home tie against Standard Liège. SK Rapid Wien will send out a message against intolerance when they play Racing Genk in Belgium.
New anti -racism resolution of UEFA
At the UEFA Congress in London, the UEFA member associations have agreed on a stricter stance against racism and adopted a new resolution. The resolution provides for, among other things, that referees in case of discriminatory incidents may stop or suspend a game. The minimum fine for racist remarks from players or team officials is now ten games.
UEFA President Michel Platini said at the start of the FARE Action Weeks:
"UEFA, its member associations and its long-standing partner FARE share an unflinching desire to tackle all forms of discrimination in our sport and to help stamp out such behaviour across Europe. Driven by that shared determination, we adopted a resolution on this issue in May this year, with a view to sending out a strong message as part of our fight against racism."
Download "Football unites against racism" resolution here.